


Cobwebs and Gears

by FlameWolf



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Angst, Child Killing, Game Theories/Lore, Gen, Haunting, Living Animatronics, Murder, No Sex, Overtures of Child Molestation, dark themes, lost souls - Freeform, supernatural happenings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-13
Updated: 2018-07-12
Packaged: 2018-07-23 17:10:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 11
Words: 40,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7472217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlameWolf/pseuds/FlameWolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A young woman has been working for the Fredbear Franchise ever since it started, even helped build the first animatronics.  Over the years she has seen a lot of strange things, not limited to finding out the animatronics she considered her friends are actually alive.  Not only that, but they seem to be sentient.  Things only get stranger when her Uncle, the current owner of the restaurant, starts decommissioning some of the more dangerous animatronics for newer models.</p><p>Things don't really start getting scary until a new person joins the day security.  Soon her friends are acting erratically, even dangerous and she finds herself feeling afraid of the animatronics for the first time in her life.  Just what's going on to cause this change in behavior and what connection does it have to the new guy on security?  More importantly, will Rose find out the answers before the machines turn on her?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Night Jitters

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Five Night at Freddy's with the exception of a few O.C. animatronics. I make no profit from this, this is just for fun.
> 
> Author's Note: This takes place before Five Nights at Freddy's 2, going with the idea that 2 is a prequel to 1. This is before they changed the name from Fredbear's Family Diner but after it changed ownership. Also, the animatronics featured right now are the 'withered' ones from 2.

“You'll do great! The kids'll love you! You'll see!” the cheerful female chirped, polishing the hook on the animatronic fox's arm. Her aqua eyes shimmering, Rose stepped back to admire the red faux fur covered machine. Smiling affectionately, the black haired female gave the machine's cold nose a brief kiss.

“All ye land lubbers out thar put yer hands together for the best pirate in the seven seas!” came a gruff male voice from the other side of the purple, velvet curtain.

“Alright! That's your cue! I have to go check on the others now. Remember, don't be nervous! You'll be the new favorite, just wait and see,” Rose chuckled, giving the fur covered machine a hug before sprinting off the stage. She never noticed the fox turn its head towards her, an almost smile on its animatronic face.

Rose had been with the Fredbear family since they had first opened the doors, taking it upon herself to personally repair the animatronic performers. Tonight was the debut of their newest family member and she had wanted to make sure he had someone to cheer him on. She almost felt ridiculous for treating the machines as if they had feelings but she couldn't shake the feeling that they appreciated her efforts. With a smile at the curtain as it started to slide open, the black haired female snuck towards the Party Room where the other animatronics waited for their turns. “This here be Foxy! The roughest pirate ever to sail the briny blue,” came the gruff voice of the performer on stage with the machine, his voice following her into the deserted next room.

On a stage in a huge, deserted room stood the three older members of the group, their lifeless eyes staring ahead at nothing. Most other people couldn't help but feel afraid or creeped out by the lifeless machines but Rose felt oddly comfortable around them. “Hey Bon-Bon! Are ya jealous of your new brother?” she asked almost conversationally as she walked onto the stage. The purple furred bunny starred at her blankly, his huge, square jaw hanging slightly open.

“Don't worry Bonnie! The kids won't dump you and the others over so easy. Just put your all into your performance like always,” she chirped giving the machine's rigid arm a reassuring pat. Bonnie only shifted slightly, his head almost seeming to hang in sadness.

“Hey, Freddy I think Bonnie's really upset,” Rose whispered, to the golden bear in the middle, a worried look in her turquoise eyes. The blocky looking bear only stared blankly at her, his tiny black top hat sitting jauntily on his head.

“Bonnie, don't be upset! The kids will be here soon and you want to give them your best!” Rose encouraged, pumping a fist in the air in an effort to encourage the machine in front of her. A strange creaking beside her made her turn her head to Chica. To tell the truth, the chicken was the most creepy looking one of the bunch and had been the cause of several nightmares. Still, she couldn't just leave the poor thing out.

“Oh hey Chica, I didn't mean to ignore you. I know! Lets try and make you a little less scary for the kids,” the black haired female offered excitedly, scooting past the slumped, yellow chicken and off the stage. She didn't notice the chicken slowly lift its head as if to watch her.

Rose rummaged in a box set by the stage, tossing odds and ends in her search for something. Finally, with a triumphant crow, she pulled out a large bib with a party motif printed on it. A slight grimace appeared on her face as she read the jaunty words that simply said 'Let's Eat!' “Not very flattering, is it?” Rose sighed, slumping slightly in defeat.

The sound of approaching voices made her jump slightly and the pale, purple clad woman heaved a sigh. “Sorry Chica, this will just have to do for now,” she apologized, wincing as she slipped the unflattering bib over the chicken's neck.

“Rose! Stop playing with those things and go clean up Pirate Cove!” snarled the familiar, angry voice of her overweight boss.

“Sorry Roy! I was trying to make Chica pretty for the children,” she explained as she turned to look at her glaring boss.

The man easily towered over her, his huge mass jiggling slightly with each wheezy breath he took. His goateed mouth pulled into a disgusted sneer, revealing several crooked, yellowing teeth. His beady, brown eyes glowered at her with a marked look of impatience. “They're fucking machines! They don't _care_ if they're pretty! Besides, Chica is going to be replaced soon anyway. Too scary for the kids,” he snarled, the light reflecting off his bald head.

“Oh, don't say that! These machines, I think they're alive and they can hear you,” Rose whispered, her aqua eyes flicking quickly to the three on the stage. Freddy was in a slightly different position, his head raised slightly as if he was watching them. Chica's head was also turned toward them and her tooth filled mouth hung open.

“You're fucking crazy Rose! If it weren't for the fact you were my niece, you would have been gone long ago! Now go fucking clean the Cove!” Roy hissed, shoving past the smaller woman on his way to the Party Room.

“Fuck you Roy! You can't just get rid of Chica just because she's a little more scary than the others! It was bad enough when you decommissioned old Rob Rabbit and put him in the back to rot!” Rose exclaimed, following close behind the severely overweight man.

“Rose, listen to me, this is _my_ business and I will run it how I see fit! Chica isn't the only one going either! Old Freddy there is getting a whole new look too,” Roy announced, gesturing to the golden bear who stared at them with black eyes.

“But Roy...,” she began to protest only to be interrupted by a glower from her Uncle.

“I'm not going to tell you again, go do your job and clean up Pirate Cove,” Roy snarled, the foul stench of his breath hitting her like a punch.

Rose glared at her Uncle for a few moments before shaking her head and moving into Pirate Cove. Unknown to her a deep chuckle came from Freddy as soon as she left. Roy whirled to face the golden furred bear, a glare on his jowly face as the kids filed in. “Fuck you Freddy. Soon you'll be locked in the back and deactivated. Then you won't be much threat to anyone,” the overweight man wheezed at the machine, his dark eyes narrowing angrily.

The golden bear only shifted slightly, another deep chuckle coming from a voice box deep within the mechanical works. A strange screeching noise nearly made the obese man jump out of his skin and he whirled to see Chica leaning slightly towards him, its lifeless eyes fixed on him. Fear replacing his confidence of a few moments ago, Roy cleared his throat and backed away from the lifeless machines. “They're only settling in place,” he whispered to himself as he moved to a control board hidden behind the stage. With a deft flick of his fat fingers, Roy pressed the button that activated the animatronic band. Almost immediately a tinny, old track started to play and the band jerked to life.

Rose smiled at the cheers of the kids as the old music started up. Picking up the discarded, empty popcorn boxes the kids had left on the cove floor, the black haired female found herself humming along to the jaunty tune that played in the other room. The sound system it played on sounded like it had been run over a few times by a tractor but the song still came through crystal clear. “Grab your party hats and your cake! Its time to celebrate,” she sang softly as she moved onto the popcorn littered stage.

Rolling her aqua eyes, the pale female swept the popcorn into her waste bin. “Man, why do they always have to throw it,” she grumbled in playful exasperation. The purple curtain beside her rippled in a phantom wind, making her halt in her tracks.

“F-foxy? Are you playing with me?” she chirped out in a voice that sounded far too nervous. Again the purple material rippled slightly, as if something was moving around behind it. Her heart thumping in her chest, Rose reached forward with a shaky hand and pulled open the curtain. A self depreciating giggle left her lips as she saw Foxy standing where he had been when the show ended.

“Foxy! You scared me!” she admonished playfully, giving the fox pirate's head a fond ruffle.

“Actually, I was hoping to be able to talk to you,” she whispered softly, going back to sweeping up the loose popcorn on the stage. The sounds of the kids singing along with the band faintly made her smile despite how sad she felt.

“Roy's gonna be replacing Chica and old Fredbear. It'll be like ol Rob all over again,” she confessed quietly, stopping sweeping to lean on the broom.

“I just don't think its right. Chica, Fredbear and Rob have been here for years, even before Uncle bought the place,” she hissed, her eyes narrowing as she straightened.

“I can't stand the thought of Freddy and Chica sitting in the back and just rotting away. If I had my say, Rob wouldn't be back there right now. Even old Fritz was remade into you,” Rose grumbled, turning her head to glance at the slumped animatronic beside her. What she saw nearly made her have a heart attack.

Foxy was in an entirely different position, his head lifted slightly and his eye patch raised. Both of his golden eyes were fixed on her and his fang filled mouth hung open. Fear slowly began to fill her and she took a small step away from the towering fox. Right now it almost looked as if the machine was waiting for an explanation. That was impossible, right? Clearing her throat, Rose squared her shoulders and moved back towards Foxy. He was just a machine, he wasn't going to hurt her. “I suppose you want to know who Fritz was,” Rose began cautiously, her turquoise eyes watching the fox animatronic carefully.

A faint 'Ar Matey' came from an ancient voice box deep inside the mechanics, making Rose jump back from the machine. Her eyes wide and frightened, Rose clutched a hand over her racing heart as she stared at the animatronic. It had to be a mechanical glitch! There was no way Foxy had just responded to her. “F-fritz was here when I first started working here. God that was years ago, when this place was still owned by Mr. Bedian. He was a lot like you, a pirate fox. But he was the first animatronic Mr. Bedian ever made so he wasn't that well built. When he started to fall apart on stage, Mr. Bedian decided to retire him. I couldn't just let Fritz die, so I managed to convince Mr. Bedian to let me rebuild him. It took me a long time, but I finally managed to make _you_. I just wish Mr. Bedian was around to see you. Fritz was always his favorite, mine too,” Rose explained, feeling more and more silly the longer the story went.

What was she doing talking to a pile of animated gears as if they could understand her? Maybe Roy was right, maybe she was crazy. An odd creak broke into her thoughts, drawing her gaze to the red fox machine in front of her. Foxy's arms were hanging open, as if offering a hug. His jaw was closed and his golden eyes bored straight into her. Fear fluttering in her chest, Rose moved slowly toward the completely still animatronic.

Her aqua eyes flicked over the lifeless machine's fur covered features, her teeth worrying her lower lip. She had always had a sense the animatronics were more than they seemed but she had never seen them outright move like this before. Before it had always been slight, subtle movements, movements that could easily be played off as the mechanics settling. For the first time since she had started working here, Rose found herself feeling fear around her animatronic friends.

Giving herself a firm shake, Rose moved into Foxy's open arms and gave the fur covered machine a tight hug. She had never been afraid of her friends before and she didn't aim to start now. If they were dangerous, they would have attempted to harm her years ago. Still it was extremely startling when she felt the thing's arms wrap loosely around her. With a gasp, Rose jumped back and away from Foxy, fear written all over her pale face. Foxy slumped forward, his jaw hanging open and his eyes closing slightly. It almost looked as if she had hurt his feelings. “I-I'm s-sorry Foxy, I just. You moved!” she gasped, clutching a fist over her racing heart.

A sudden hand on her shoulder made her give a small scream as she whirled to face her assailant. Behind her stood her overweight Uncle, a frown on his pudgy face. “R-roy!” she gasped out, turning slightly to look at Foxy.

Foxy was back in his original position, his eye patch down and his hook raised in a wave. His square jaw hung open in an almost smile as his lifeless eyes stared into the empty room. “The party's over Rose, finish up here and then move on to the Party Room,” Roy grunted before waddling out of the room and leaving her alone with Foxy.

Rose swallowed noisily before going back to sweeping. “I'm really sorry for how I reacted earlier. I was just startled,” she whispered, not quite daring to look at the machine. She was afraid that if she did, she would start screaming and be unable to stop. A faint creaking let her know that Foxy had shifted again and she found herself looking up despite herself. Right in front of her face was the fang filled mouth of Foxy, hanging open to show the endoskeleton within.

Unable to stop a slight scream of fear from escaping her lips, Rose jolted back from the animatronic. Foxy's jaws clicked shut mere inches from her nose, making her heart tighten in her chest slightly. It almost seemed as if Foxy was pissed at her. “F-foxy... please. Try to see it from my point of view! I never expected you to be able to move,” she gasped out, unable to stop the sliver of hurt from slipping into her voice.

Never in her wildest dreams would she have ever thought any of her friends capable of harming her, yet Foxy had very nearly taken her face off. Tears beginning to brim in her aqua eyes, Rose got to her feet and brushed off her purple pants. A faint 'Matey' drew her attention back to Foxy who was now standing with his head hanging slightly, almost as if in shame. “Oh, I can't stay mad at you. You did great today,” Rose sighed with a slight smile. Despite the oddness of the situation, she found herself easily slipping back into feeling comfortable around Foxy.

Foxy's head slowly jerked up, his jaw opening into a horrifying facsimile of a smile. Unable to help a slight shudder of fear, Rose smiled back unsurely before going back to sweeping. As she swept up the popcorn kernels and empty boxes, Rose wondered if she could get used to the fact that her friends were actually alive. Every now and again while she was cleaning she heard faint creaks and groans as Foxy moved around.

After a while of this, Rose looked up to see Foxy stiffly bending over to pick up a discarded candy box. “Er, thanks,” Rose whispered, taking the box from the animatronic. Foxy stiffly nodded to her before jerkily bending down to pick up another box. Blinking at her odd help, Rose went back to cleaning and soon had the Cove spotless with Foxy's assistance.

“Uh, apology accepted on my part. I assume you feel the same way?” she asked, feeling a little off balance. The faint 'Ar' that came from within Foxy's mechanics still caused her to jump slightly.

“Heh, this is going to take a while to get used to,” Rose chuckled, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. To tell the truth, she was beginning to feel horrible for how much fear she still felt around Foxy. Despite the close call earlier, it had become quite apparent to her that Foxy meant her no harm.

“Well, I have to go see to the others. I'll come say good night before I lock up,” Rose whispered with a small smile.

“See ye later matey!” came the tinny prerecorded voice as Foxy jerkily raised his hook in a wave.

Rose chuckled softly before grabbing her supplies and moving back into the Party Room. The sight that greeted her made her jaw drop in horror. The floor was coated in confetti, bits of discarded cake, candy, popcorn, spilled soda and paper plates. To her further horror she saw the animatronic band was covered in streamers and cake. Freddy had even had his jaws pried open and a piece of cake shoved into his mechanics.

The band jerked and twitched, still obviously turned on but jammed by the sheer amount of cake in their gears. Fighting the urge to throw up at the shocking sight of her friends, Rose immediately moved to the control box in the back of the stage. “Oh fuck Roy! Why the hell did you let them do this!” she exclaimed as she turned off the motors forcing the band to move. A brief shower of sparks spat at her from the control board, making her flinch back and shield her face.

A thick, acrid smoke slowly began to curl in front of her face, drawing her attention to the machines on the stage. Thick, black smoke and sparks billowed from both Freddy and Chica as they slumped to the wooden stage in a heap. “Oh god no,” Rose whispered, a desperate edge to her voice as she hopped on to the stage. Her black work shoes skidded slightly in the cake that was smeared on the wood as she scurried to the fallen animatronics.

Rose immediately went to Fredbear, whose head was tilted almost upside down. The golden bear's mouth hung off its hinges and a shower of sparks spat from deep within his mechanics. Pink and blue frosting from the cake jammed in his mouth was smeared all over the exposed endoskeleton. “Oh fuck, oh fuck! I don't know if I can fix this!” Rose moaned out, tears beginning to roll down her pale cheeks.

An odd creaking made Rose jerk her head up. There, in front of her, stood Bonnie; his purple mouth hanging slightly open. “Bon-bon, what the hell did he let them do to you guys?” she asked in a distraught voice, wincing as Freddy's ajar mouth spat more sparks at her. Bonnie's head slightly jerked to the right, an odd screeching noise coming from deep within the rabbit.

“Don't worry Bonnie, even if I have to stay here all night, I'll fix Freddy and Chica. I can't leave you guys in this condition,” Rose assured, a hard glint in her normally kind eyes.

“Ar Matey!” came a sudden voice from behind her, making her jump and whirl around to see Foxy. The fox's eye patch was again raised and both eyes were fixed on the prone forms of Chica and Freddy.

“Help me move them to the back. I'll need to take their skin off to get at the machine parts,” she ordered, not even stopping to think just how strange the entire situation was.

“Aye Cap'n,” came the tinny, mechanical reply from the fox. Then, while moving rather jerkily, the animatronic fox picked up the sparking body of Freddy and began to carry it to the back.

Rose watched in stunned silence for a few moments before moving to pick up Chica. The chicken looked like several of her wires had been pulled free and there was a large piece of cake jammed directly into the gears that moved her head. “Oh Chica,” Rose moaned softly, gritting her teeth as she tried to drag the heavy machine.

“Let's party!” came a cheerful, mechanical voice from beside her, making her nearly jump out of her skin. Looking up, the black haired woman saw Bonnie jerkily bending down to help her drag Chica.

“Uh, thanks Bonnie. You know, with my luck this will all turn out to be a dream brought on by too much pizza,” Rose quipped with a chuckle, still a little stunned by the current events.

“Be sure to eat your vegetables!” came the nonsensical reply from the purple rabbit. Bonnie then haltingly bent to pick up the sparking Chica and carried the prone, yellow chicken to the back.

Some of the fear from earlier beginning to come back, Rose squared her shoulders and gave herself a firm shake before following her friends. _'You always treated them as if they were alive before. Them actually being alive shouldn't make that much of a difference,'_ she tried to reason to herself as she moved into the well hidden repair room. “Kzzt bzrt h-hey k-k-k-kidssssh,” came a broken, staticy voice, jerking her back to reality.

In the room was several spare parts as well as tools for repairing the animatronics. Spare heads stared at her from the walls, almost giving her the creepy feeling of being watched closely. It didn't help that both Bonnie and Foxy were staring at her in an almost expectant manner. Smiling at her friends a bit nervously, Rose knelt beside Freddy. Freddy jerked slightly, his head swaying almost sickeningly while sparks shot from his dangling mouth. “I have to remove your skin in order to have any hope of fixing this,” she explained apologetically, reaching cautiously for the latches that held the hard, fur covered shell on.

“W-w-welc-come t-to bzrt zzzrt Family Diner,” came the broken, glitched sounding reply. The golden furred bear seemed to almost lean toward her, as if giving his permission.

After several nerve wracking hours of touch and go, Rose finally pulled back satisfied. Her hands were coated in black oil and her black hair clung to her sweaty forehead in a very unflattering manner. Heaving a shaky sigh, Rose swiped an oil coated hand across her head; leaving a black smear on her starkly white forehead. She still wasn't sure she had gotten all of the cake out of their gears but she had done the best she could. She was amazed they even worked at all after all the damage that had been caused. “Well, I did the best I could guys. Sorry for not being able to fix you all the way,” she apologized in a shaky voice, slowly getting to her feet.

Despite her best efforts the mechanics seemed irreparably damaged. Freddy and Chica had odd twitches that happened at random as well as some strange audio glitches. Nothing she did seemed to even help the problems and she eventually had to admit defeat. She just didn't know as much about the animatronics as Mr. Bedian and he wasn't exactly around to ask for help.

Her legs nearly buckled under her as she stood, almost causing her to fall. With a grunt, Rose managed to lean against a nearby wall and just barely managed to stay on her feet. “Phew, I must have worn myself out,” gasped the tired female, fighting to steady herself as she leaned heavily against a wall.

Several strange creaks drew her attention and she raised her head to see all four of the animatronics staring at her. “I'll be okay. I just stayed up longer than I should have. I just need to get some sleep,” she assured, smiling at the almost concerned looking machines.

“Aye,” came a tinny reply from Foxy as he jerkily began to move towards her.

Hiding a yawn behind her hand, Rose only smiled at the animatronics as she swayed slightly on her feet. “Lets eat!” came a cheerful reply from Chica, the yellow chicken also beginning to move towards her.

“We really need to work on your guys' sayings,” Rose sighed, hiding another yawn as she turned and began to walk out of the repair room. A sudden, fur covered, cold hand grasping her wrist stopped the black haired woman in her tracks. A bit of helpless fear running through her, she turned slowly to see Fredbear staring right at her.

“S-s-st-stay a-a-at... kzzt,” came a garbled voice from deep within the mechanics. Rose couldn't help but blink a bit. It almost sounded as if Freddy was trying to get her to stay the night.

“Do you... do you want me to stay here?” she found herself asking, almost dreading the answer. Freddy's head jerked slowly up and down, an unmistakeable nod.

“I can't! Roy would kill me!” she protested, another jaw cracking yawn escaping her. Bonnie jerked his head slightly in response, odd bursts of static coming from his voice box.

“Zzzrt come bzzrt join kzzzt not frzzzt s-s-s-s-s-a-a-afe,” came a halting, glitching, screeching voice from deep within the purple bunny. Rose blinked, looking at the mechanical rabbit with a mixture of astonishment and a bit of fear. The end of that phrase had definitely not been programed into Bonnie's voicebox.

“Zzzzt kssh bzzrrrrrrrrr mmmmatey kzzzrt s-s-s-s-st-stay R-r-rose,” came an equally garbled reply from Foxy as the vulpine animatronic haltingly reached forward and placed his hook on her arm.

Her turquoise eyes going wide, Rose jolted back from the machines. Her heart beat erratically in her chest as she stared at the animatronics with fear-filled eyes. There was no way in hell something like her _name_ had been programmed into Foxy's sayings. “Ksssh n-n-n-no ssshhhrrrt f-f-f-bzzrt fear,” came a garbled reply from Chica, her horrifying, tooth-filled mouth hanging slightly open.

Looking at the animatronics as they all closed in on her slowly, Rose pressed as tightly into the wall as she could. “Y-you guys are t-talking. Actually talking,” she gasped out in a weak voice, sliding slowly to her knees as her legs finally gave out. The four machines looked down at her, almost seeming to be concerned. Her vision beginning to gray around the edges, the purple clad woman desperately clung to her consciousness.

Despite her best efforts, her fear had become an all encompassing thing and her vision was beginning to lose all its color. The last thing she was aware of before she lost consciousness was Foxy leaning slowly down towards her. His oddly angular, faux fur covered face was merely inches from hers and both his golden eyes stared at her. Before she she knew no more, she could swear she could almost see worry in the glass orbs.


	2. Security Detail

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: More surprises in store this chapter. If you don't like fan theories based on games, this fic isn't for you and you should probably stop reading now. If you're hoping for some animatronic/human sex you are going to be sorely disappointed. This fic is going to be sex free with implications of child molestation.

Roy closed and locked his front door with a grunt, drawing the curtains over the windows by the door. Once he was satisfied, the obese man waddled slowly into his living room. His beady brown eyes immediately went to his large living room window and a fine sheen of sweat slowly appeared on his forehead. A look of almost abject fear on his jowly face, Roy reached forward with a pudgy hand and rapidly pulled the curtains shut. A shaky, guttural chuckle leaving him, the barrel shaped, squat man shook his head at his own stupidity.

A sudden flickering of the lights made him tense for a few seconds until it stopped. His piggy eyes flicking around in an almost paranoid manner, Roy stood in the middle of his living room as if waiting for something. The next few moments seemed to stretch into an eternity as nothing seemed to happen and he found himself beginning to relax despite himself. Just as he was about to write it off as an electrical fluke, the entire room was plunged into absolute darkness.

Tinny, familiar music began to play, making his skin prickle when a deep laugh echoed from somewhere down the hall. “Shit,” hissed out of the obese man, his heart racing while a cold sweat coated his pallid skin. That was when a pair of eyes flickered on in the darkness, the glow from the bulb also illuminating blunt teeth.

“Ah, I w-was just joking about replacing you and your friends. Really. And, uh, sorry 'bout them kids messin' with your friends,” he groveled, a faint wheezing coming from him while he backed away. For a few, horrible moments, the apparition was getting closer.

Then with a flicker and another laugh, it was gone and the lights were back on. Clutching his heart, Roy glared at where the thing had been. He didn't care what he had said, those things were being dismantled as soon as he could do it. The new models were more kid friendly. Already, the new Fredbear was going over well. The other redesigns were likely to go over just as well. The only problem was the fox. It would have to stay while he had Rose make one that matched the others. The only reason he couldn't just dismantle it was the fact the kids already seemed to love him. The fox could be a huge draw. Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough for him. At least he would be able to replace that damn chicken.

Groaning, Rose opened her eyes to see figures hunched over her. Gasping as she remembered last night, she backed away from the hulking bits of machinery until her back hit a wall. To her surprise, none of them moved. They simply opened their eyes, making confused noises as they took in her frightened form. Creaking loudly, Foxy began to straighten in a jerky motion; waving with his one normal hand. “S-so it wasn't a dream,” whispered out of her, her heart thudding in her ears as she took in her friends. Friends she had considered inanimate up until last night.

Jittering slightly, Chica nodded her head like it was on a rusty spring. Then, one by one, they were shambling out to the Pizzeria; likely in an attempt to get back to their appointed spots. Rose could only follow, still feeling a bit stunned. Still, she had a job to do and she had little choice but to brush it off and continue onwards. Besides, who would really believe her. So, with a wave to the machines, she went to check the back for packages.

Just entering the delivery bay was enough to make the fine hairs on her arms stand on end. It was dark and just felt… off. Not to mention the fact that this was where they staged the new animatronics that were still going through safety testing. Already, they had Bonnie as well as Fredbear but the model they had been sent was the wrong color. They'd had to get a new one, leaving this one in the delivery bay. Though, there had been talk of Fredbear getting a cousin or brother just to use it. Roy hated wasting money.

Moving past the shadowed machines, Rose made her way to a tall box, dread filling her as she took in the cardboard monstrosity. It no doubt contained Chica, one of the less popular characters and much easier to replace than Bonnie or the newly made Foxy. It still amazed her that Fredbear had been the first one to get a replacement ordered and was the first one to be replaced. It was almost as if Roy was afraid of the golden colored bear, a notion she would have simply shaken off before last night. Now, she wasn't so sure. Now, she thought her Uncle knew far more than he was willing to say.

Pulling out the purple handled box cutter she had been given when she first joined the 'family', she cut through the tape; shuddering at the sound it made in the stillness. Once that was done, she was pulling open the front to reveal a more plush-like version of Chica; matching the others that had come in. “Hey there. Wish we were meeting under better circumstances. I'm sure we'll get to know eachother soon. Just wish I didn't have to leave you here in the dark,” she greeted, just like she had the others. It was a ritual she had always followed simply because she regarded these things as her friends. Now, she did it on the off chance these new machines were alive as well.

Still, when she heard a faint creak from behind her, she felt her heart leap into her throat. She didn't know these animatronics as well as the old ones. There was a good chance they wouldn't be as friendly toward her. Turning to look at the sound, she heard a gut wrenching clunk come from the replacement for Chica. Unease turning into outright terror, Rose turned back to the chicken; letting out a quiet squeak when she saw the yellow covered machine leaving over her with its beaked mouth slightly open. “Ah! I mean no harm, really! I just… I just want to be friends…,” wheezed out of her as she became aware of a presence behind her.

Turning her head slightly, she saw the brown version of Fredbear staring down at her with oddly curious eyes. “F-Fazbear F-family…?” choked out his much newer sounding voice box, sounding much more friendly than the ones installed in the current animatronics.

“Guess you could call me that… D-do you guys somehow know me?” she tried, her heart still racing despite the sense of danger fading away.

“C-can bzzrt s-ssseee… o-older…,” screeched the broken, yet familiar voice of Bonnie from behind Fredbear. Blinking, Rose did her best to puzzle out what that broken phrase could mean while the replacements for her friends simply seemed to examine her.

“Can you… can you see through the eyes of the older models?” she tried, feeling slightly encouraged when they nodded in unison; the movement much smoother in these models.

“G-good grown-up. Ksh bzzz zrttt n-nnot like.. fshhh crackle crack zzzbrrrrR-R-…,” Chica tried, seemingly unable to get the last part out. Yet, the long time employee could make a fairly good guess what the facsimile of poultry was trying to say.

“Like Roy… Is it because he's replacing the older models?” whispered out of her as she took in the odd creatures. She was surprised when they shook their heads.

Before she could ask anymore, the door to the bay opened; revealing her Uncle. Beady eyes glaring into the darkness, he made an impatient noise when he saw her standing amongst the mascots. He only smiled when he saw the newly unboxed Chica. “Glad to see you weren't just playin' around with these things like usual. Get her ready to replace the one upfront and get ready for the kids,” bit out his gruff voice before he was turning to leave. Rose could only do as he asked, grateful for the fact that she no longer had to move the machines on her own. Still, having an explanation ready just in case Roy saw them was probably advised.

Soon, she and the faux fur coated machine were wandering down the hall; heading to the large room where the stage was. Looking at the raised platform where the older machines stood, she felt a fair bit of apprehension about being the one to introduce the replacement. While her friends had never really been violent before she'd found out they were alive, there was no telling how they would react now that she did know. Now that they didn't have to hide their true nature around her. Still, some part of her was hopeful that she knew them as well she thought she did.

Over the years with them, they had been some of her closest friends. She had repaired them countless times, making sure they never got rusty or worn out. Just the fact that the originals were still working was a testament of her skill with the wrench. It also helped she had been taught all she knew by the creator and original owner, Mr. Bedian. She always had a sense the feeling was mutual. Today would be an unintentional test of just how well she thought she knew the machines. “Hey guys! This is the replacement for Chica,” she announced to the trio heading the stage.

A series of creaks and groans came from the animatronics as they turned to face her, the old version of Chica tilting her head to one side. Moving up onto the polished platform, the replacement stood toe to toe with its outdated counterpart; the pair almost seeming to communicate without words. Then, with an unsteady nod, the original began to make its way off the stage; heading to a hidden back room where they kept the old version of Fredbear. Deciding not to ask, Rose moved off to set up for the day before unlocking. If her friends weren't bothered, then she wouldn't be either.

Watching as the kids filed into the party room, Rose couldn't hep but keep an eye on the new guy Roy had brought in this morning. While he was supposed to be on night duty, he was taking over temporarily for one of their day guards. A man that had been with the company nearly as long as she had. To have this newcomer taking his place made her a bit nervous. Still, Scott was sick and they didn't really have a choice. Besides, she had been put on watch duty for him for a reason. She was the most experienced employee and would be there if he needed help.

Movement from the door leading out to the hall to Pirate Cove drew her attention and she felt her heart sink when she saw Foxy's attendant peeking around the door. Jaunty parrot dangling from his right shoulder and eye patch on his left eye, he looked like he'd stepped off the deck of a pirate ship. Once he saw he had her attention, he was waving to her frantically with a black gloved hand. Sighing, Rose made a motion to the new guy before heading to see what he wanted. “One of the kids got sick. We need a clean up,” hissed in her ear, only adding to her horrible day.

As soon as she was gone, three older kids near the back began to gather just a bit closer together. “Looks like she's finally gone. Think we can get the geek before she comes back?” hissed one of them while the others kept an eye out for any sign of her return.

“He's not even paying attention to us. Look at him staring at those silly machines,” grumbled another while the third just looked uncomfortable.

“While he's a spaz, he's still my brother. Just… don't get too crazy?” he tried, eyes shifting to the bespectacled boy entranced by the mascots.

“Don't worry about it Will. Little Mikey boy will be just fine,” assured the first boy, green eyes gaining a mean glint.

Staring up at the animatronics he had come to see as his only friends, the youngest member of the Afton family felt something tug hard on the inside of him. He could still see the nightmares far too clearly in his head, fangs replacing the blunt teeth of the golden bear leading the forefront of the robotic band. It only helped a little bit that the bear and bird had recently been replaced by models that more resembled the toys he had at home. Shuddering, he found himself almost afraid of the animatronics for the first time in his short life. All of a sudden, he regretted begging his brother to take him here in their parent's stead.

All he had wanted was a happy birthday for once. A birthday that kids actually came to and had fun at. Fredbear's Family Diner had seemed perfect. Even if none of the kids that had come here had come for him, he would at least have Fredbear and the others. Now, he didn't even have that. Backing away from the stage, Mike squeaked when he felt his back his something rather solid. Feeling behind him with tiny hands, he felt terror shoot through him when he found fur under his chubby digits. Craning his head up, he saw the golden face of Rob Rabbit. A character that had been replaced on the stage long ago. The pizzeria was just too cheap to buy a new costume for Bonnie.

Hearing the faint creak of steel springs, Mike found his eyes tracing the hinged jaw of the dead eyed costume. With an unholy sound of rusted metal screaming, the mouth slowly opened and a tinny voice issued out of the horror's mouth. “Happy Birthday! You should have some delicious pizza,” advised the robotic voice, sounding like the voice box had been beaten severely with a baseball bat. Biting back a scream, the boy shook his head; backing toward the stage. Thankfully, the lumbering mascot soon moved off; leaving him with the ones behind him.

“Hey Mikey, Will says you really like these robot things. How would you like to see them up close?” hissed a suggestion that chilled the child's blood as he turned to see one of his older brother's friends. Boys that were supposed to be helping watch the others. Then he was being lifted across two shoulders, the one in the lead pushing his head toward the flapping jaw of Fredbear.

Doing her best to keep her swearing to a minimum, Rose blew her dark hair out of her face as she mopped up the last remnants of slightly used cake. Seriously, if the kid had felt sick; why had he eaten two more slices. Not to mention the normal popcorn and soda mess that littered where foxy had stood just moments before. A sharp, shrill scream broke the stupor that had settled over her, adrenaline dumping into her system as she ran towards the room where more screaming was coming from. Flinging open the doors to the party room, she saw a sight that both horrified her and turned her stomach.

Kids were running from the stage in a huge wave, three older boys gathering around a much smaller figure on the stained carpet. Seeing blood coating Fredbear's face as well as most of the polished surface of the stage, she felt a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach. It certainly didn't help that the program was still turned on, the singing and dancing of the mechanized mascots making the scene even more ghoulish. “Back up, give him room,” came a demand that didn't sound like her as her body moved her toward the cause of all the mayhem. When she saw the dazed gaze of the mangled boy staring up at the ceiling, it was all she could do not to vomit.

There was an obvious bite wound around the circumference of his skull, the head itself looking unpleasantly flattened and deformed. Blood oozed out of the teeth marks in his forehead as well as his stretched, cracked skin, eyes staring blindly. The worst part was, the child was still breathing. Looking up frantically to see where the new guy was, she felt her blood boil slightly when she saw him just watching. As if this was the most fascinating thing in the world. “Call 9-1-1 Jeremy!” she called out, pulling off her purple uniform jacket and beginning to tear strips from it.

Unnoticed, the band slowly ground to a halt; a strange clunk coming from inside Fredbear while blood dripped from his lower jaw. Unseen, the blood that had splattered onto the stage was slowly absorbed by the shadows of Fredbear and Bonnie. Cocking his head jerkily to one side, the ursine robot's eyes flashed red for a second. Whispers began to murmur amongst the machines, unheard over the noise of Rose trying to save the child's life.

Watching as the paramedics wheeled away the covered body of the boy, Rose felt numb on the inside. She had done everything she could but it  it seemed like the child was likely to never regain consciousness .  The paramedics had gotten him breathing normally but there was likely irreperable brain damage .  Even if he survived, he was likely to be brain dead.  Of course, the parents had to be called and they were righteously furious. Roy was already making promises of replacing the band with the model that had replaced Chica. Promises of replacing Fredbear altogether.  Still, all she could feel was just numb .

Staring at the machines, she felt something inside her break at the possibility that they had attacked a child. That she would even consider them capable of such a heinous act. Just seeing the blood drying on Fredbear's teeth was enough to make her come close to vomiting, a sour taste linger ing in the back of her throat as she thought about the clean up. Clean up that would happen after both parents and police were nice and paid off. The thing that unsettled her most was the new guy. He had little to no reaction to what had happened, simply watching as they lifted the tiny body and carried him out. It honestly chilled her blood.

Suddenly, there was a mop in her hand; a coarse whisper in her ear drawing her out of her stupor. “Get it cleaned up while I get them all out of here. I also want you and Jeremy to dismantle the animatronics and get the new ones in place. Especially Fredbear. We'll start work on rebranding before we outright change our name. Don't want to be associated with the death of that child after all,” Roy murmured, a fairly gleeful light in his mean eyes while his goateed lips sneered. Glaring at her Uncle, Rose simply pulled away before giving the man a piece of her mind.

“Roy… I have always struggled to consider you family but tonight is an all new low for you. A child has been maimed here and they might not even survive. If Jeremy here was watching things, why didn't he do anything to stop it? You could also at least try to seem worried for that boy. Instead, you almost seem happy,” she hissed, feeling more hate for the man than she ever had in her life  as she stomped toward the stage .

Before she could get very far, she felt an iron grip close around her upper arm; drawing her attention to the only family she really had left in the world.  Lifting his upper lip to bare his teeth at her, the much taller man yanked her close to him; anger shimmering in his dark eyes. “Listen here you little…,” he began trailing off when there was a bone-chilling creak from the platform behind her. It sounded like all the  band  members had moved at once, the way her Uncle's gaze shifted making her skin faintly tingle. When he lost all color in his fat face and dropped her arm, she felt her stomach drop through the floor.

Turning slightly, she saw the trio all looking at Roy; their mouths yawning open. For just a moment, it seemed like their eyes had flashed red. Then, as if they noticed her fright, they slumped; their bodies moving in a jerky motion that emulated shutting down. Licking her dry lips, she turned back to the man behind her. He was sweating profusely, backing away from the mascots like they might try to kill him. “Just… just do as I asked. We have to act before one of those parents gets it in their heads to sue,” he blurted, backing out of the party room to leave her with Jeremy.

Frankly feeling creeped out by the new guy, Rose decided to make him move the new  machine s out of the delivery bay. While he was gone, she would have the others move to the back. As much as she hated to do it, she was just an employee. She had to do as she was told, even if she disagreed with it. “Alright newbie. You got get the guys from the delivery bay. Roy should have showed you where it was during the tour,” she ordered, feeling a slightly slimy sensation on her skin when he grinned at her and nodded. Then he was heading into the hall, the air almost seeming to clear once he was gone.

Even the animatronics felt safer, despite what had happened. Rubbing the bridge of her nose as she let out a small whimper, she nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt something land on her shoulder. Tur nin g her head,  she saw the still blood coated Fredbear looking down at her. “What happened?” she whispered, dreading the answer the mechanical animals would give her.

“O-older-rrrr b-boyyszzt. P-put child i-in m-m-m-m-my mouth,” came the broken response, both surprising and enraging her.

“You mean he stood here while those three older boys lifted that poor child and put his head in your mouth?!” spat out of her, disbelief mixing with outright disgust. The trio of machines nodded. Then Fredbear was shuddering, his mouth moving while his speech box stuttered and threw static.

“R-r-r-ro-r..kssshhrt,” he tried, unable to get the name out like before.

“Roy?!” He was here too?! Just what the Hell is he getting at,” she hissed, reaching up with a rag to carefully clean the face of her friend.

Yet, even as she cleaned up and followed the machines into the back, she knew there was nothing she could do to prove any of this. There was no video feed, just the confessions of some machines no one knew was alive but her. Yet, she suspected her Uncle knew too. The way he was acting around them made her suspect as much but she didn't have the courage to bring it up. “I just wish it wasn't just my word against his. There's nothing I can do here but continue to follow orders and you guys did nothing to deserve being dismantled. Not to mention the entire company,” she whispered, watching as two members of the trio made their way into the hidden room; seeming happy to be reunited with Chica and the decommission Fredbear.

When they simply nodded and gave a wave, she allowed a bitter smile to grace her lips. “I'll come visit, I promise. I won't let you rot like Rob,” she assured, shutting the door and locking it with a final sounding click. Heading back to the party room, she wasn't surprised to see Jeremy just getting started on setting up the new Bonnie. Heading over, she made sure assembly went smoothly; the pair working well into the night. By the time they were done, it was three in the morning.

A pair of eyes watched the door to the restaurant, waiting until they saw the two employees leaving. With a grunt, the large man was out of his vehicle; heading toward the door to unlock it. Moving toward a room hidden in the back, he intended to make sure Fredbear would never be able to move again. Him or the older version of him. Besides, there was no reason to keep either of them functional. Not when he could finally take the opportunity to make the franchise really his.


	3. Shift Changes

Staring up at her Uncle, Rose couldn't quite bring herself to believe what she’d just heard. He was giving Jeremy the dayshift. At least until he got more used to things around here. Meanwhile, Scott would be moved to nightshift; citing the fact that he seemed to need a break. While, normally, she wouldn’t even have thought of arguing. Something about the new hire just felt… off to her. It certainly didn’t help that he had sat by and watched three older boys put a much younger boy’s head in Fredbear’s mouth. There was also the fact that Roy had also been there.

Both of them were equally suspect in her eyes. The only problem was, she had nothing but the word of the mascots to prove it. Still, that didn’t mean she had to like what was happening. Silently vowing to keep an eye on him, she began to explain the various shows to the new hire. She also took the opportunity to outline his duties as a security officer. Under no circumstances was he to allow any of the guests to be in any sort of danger.

Instead of saying anything, he nodded; an unsettling grin on his pale face. A grin that had been there since the night of the accident. There was also something about his eyes she found unpleasant. Something empty and reminded her of horrifying things found under the bed of a child. Things that had sharp claws and hungry teeth. Shuddering while he looked over Foxy, she lamented the fact that she was pretty much stuck with him. At least she could do her best to keep the kids away from him.

With him being a newbie, it was within her right to saddle him with the grunt work. Instead of her being the one to clean up the popcorn and puke, the job was handed over to him. In all honesty, she was glad to have an excuse to be rid of the job of janitor. She felt much more at home near the stage with the mascots. It was the spot she could be the closest to her friends the longest, even if most of them had been replaced by her overnight.

Looking up at ‘Freddy Fazbear’, she felt a pang of sadness. It felt like the beginning of the end of an era. The restaurant known as ‘Fredbear’s Family Diner’ would slowly be phased out for ‘Fazbear’s Family Diner’. Eventually, the idea was to have the name be ‘Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria’. All in all, she couldn’t help but feel sorry to see the change happen. She had loved the man this place had once belonged to. It felt a bit like spitting in his face to change it so much. Especially the mascots.

Already, Rob Rabbit had become Bonnie Bunny, Fredbear had become Freddy, and Fritz had become Foxy. What else could be coming? She could only shudder at the thought. At least she could always see the discarded husks that had been here from the beginning. She would do her best to care for them and keep them in better condition than poor Rob had been. She still couldn’t believe she had just believed Roy and still blamed herself to this day. Especially with the fact that, no matter how hard she tried, he would never really be in fully working condition again.

The best she had been able to do was keep his costume in one piece, a ghastly affair she honestly thought they should retire. It was dangerous and she could make a much better one. But her Uncle, being the cheapskate he was, wouldn’t even hear of the idea while the old one could still be repaired. One day, the thing was going to have a catastrophic failure and kill someone. It was full of powerful springs held in by a wing and a prayer. It was a miracle nothing bad had happened yet. If one good thing could come from this name change, Rob’s costume would have to be relegated to the back.

“At least you guys _are_ less scary for the kids. You look more like plush toys and less like angular nightmares. Mr. Bedian was a genius but he didn’t have much to work with. Bet if he knew he could get custom cases, he’d have done that from the start. Still, I’ll have to do something about Foxy so he matches better. He’s so popular already, I doubt Roy would want him shelved,” she mused to herself, taking in the blocky, fur covered forms of her new charges. Reaching up in an unsteady motion, Freddy was lifting his tiny top hat to her before one of his eyes was closing in an obvious wink. A fact that startled her at first.

Feeling her heart galloping, she gave a shaky smile to the brown furred doppelganger for the old mascot. Looking into his blue eyes, she saw an odd sort of affection the older models had no capability of showing. Yet, despite the fact his name was Freddy, it was like she was looking at the old Fredbear. It was the same with Bonnie and Rob as well as Foxy and Fritz. Like her friends had said, it was like each version was sharing a consciousness with the other. It was the strangest thing she had ever witnessed and raised all sorts of questions about the conscious mind.

In fact, her friends’ existence in the first place raised questions about the nature of life and souls. Being machines, could they really have souls? Could they really feel anything at all? After all her years with them, she could say yes with a fair amount of confidence. Even with her only knowing of their sentience for a few days. Still, they were more than just a little bit spooky. The way they moved, they way they spoke. While they couldn’t help it, all of it made her skin crawl in the worst way.

Then the doors were banging open, slamming them into their roles quite effectively. Soon, the daily flood of kids was coming in. The only problem was, the person in the Rob costume wasn’t coming out. In fact, the longer it was taking, the more uneasy she became. If he didn’t appear in a minute or two, she’d have to alert Roy. That is, if he didn’t know already. There was always a chance the guy had quit due to safety concerns. With how creeped out she was by Jeremy, she hoped that wasn’t the case. He’d have to take the other guy’s place if that was what was happening.

Moment after moment passed without any sign of the golden rabbit costume and she had reluctantly left her post the head to her Uncle’s office. Looking up at the camera at the end of the hall, she raised her door to knock. She was unsurprised when the door was already open. “If you’re here about ol’ Rob, I already know. I was just about to send you to get Jeremy. Have him put on the fur and interact with the kids,” came the orders she knew were going to happen. Giving a nod, she moved to carry out what had been asked of her; wishing the entire time she was just a bit taller. That way, she would at least be in the running.

Fifteen minutes and a quick wardrobe change later, she was watching Mr. Fitzgerald cavorting around as Rob. Just seeing him with the children gave her a chill. Still, they didn’t have much choice at this point. At least she was off clean-up duty due to the unexpected change. Yet, she doubted that applied to after work. She suspected she would be manning the dustpan and mops once more. After all, Jeremy will be off and Roy won’t want to touch the dirty work. At least she wouldn’t have to do it all alone anymore. She had the animatronics to thank for that.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be. There was a kid that had gotten sick in the Cove again, making her wonder what on Earth these gremlins were eating. She had to leave the party room to do an emergency clean-up, leaving Jeremy alone with the kids for a few good minutes. By the time she was done, they were flooding out in a mob of noise only the young are capable of. The new hire was already gone, probably in the back changing. This meant it was time to do more cleaning before the next wave. They had at least one more show before they closed.

So, when Jeremy got back, they got to work. Between the two of them, the debris was shoved out of the way enough to not be overtly visible. It would be taken care of after closing time. For now, it just needed to not be noticeable. Then she was helping the newbie put on the suit again, mitigating a possible disaster happening. One failure and the springs could tear into him, irreparably injuring him and possibly trapping him in the suit until paramedics arrived. Honestly, she really wished she could talk her Uncle into just allowing her to design new costumes. Unfortunately, he was too cheap to even buy materials.

As soon as they were in position, the doors were swinging open to admit a fresh flood of children. To her amusement, most of them noticed the absence of Fredbear right away. All day, she was answering questions about what the name of the brown bear was. Another question was where Fredbear had gone and would he come back. It seemed they were much more perceptive than her Uncle had bargained for. Still, kids were easy. As long as it entertained them, they would come to love it. Though, some of them would always have a nostalgia for the original mascots. A fact that made her feel a bit warm on the inside.

Watching the kids while they sang along with the trio, she couldn’t help but hum in tune as well. She had grown up around these songs, had memorized them until she could sing them in her sleep. She’d even been asked to fill in on the few times the older animatronics’ electronics gave out. Even the new guy was dancing along, spinning one of the young girls while his ears flopped in his face. With the costume on, it was honestly a heartwarming sight. Yet, knowing the man that was inside, she felt a bit of unease. Shaking her head, she kept her smile on her face while the party gradually came to its conclusion.

Pushing his way though the cranky kids fighting their parents about leaving, Roy opened the door to the party room to give the nightly objectives. When he saw both his underlings busily cleaning like they should be, he felt a bit of pride blossom inside his chest. He ran a tight ship here and he had control of one of the largest restaurant chains in the world. Not to mention the biggest threats to him had been decommissioned in such a way they could never move again. He felt like he was on top of the world. Placing his hands on his wide hips, he cleared his throat for attention. When he got it immediately, he felt his ego inflate immensely.

Just looking at her Uncle, she felt her heart sink at his expression. Already, the changes were going to his head. It wouldn’t be long before he was entirely insufferable. “Alright, I want all the rooms swept as well as vacuumed. Polish and mop the stage. Finally, Rose, you do maintenance on the animatronics. Fitzgerald there can clean the delivery bay while you do that,” came the orders he gave every night. Just the inclusion of the new guy was different. Rolling her blue-green eyes, she nodded before simply getting back to what she had been doing.

All in all, it was a typical closing. The pair each did their assignments and got everything done in a decent amount of time. Jeremy had even left first, giving her the opportunity to visit her friends hidden in storage. Something she had been looking forward to all day. Giving a final pat to Foxy on her way out of the Cove, she made her way through the maze of halls until she reached the well hidden room. Opening the door with a low squeal, she felt her greeting die on her lips when she took in what awaited her. In fact, it was all she could do to keep from vomiting.

Someone had come in and torn all of them apart. Bits and pieces of her mechanical friends were strewn everywhere, making her feel weak in the knees. Without even asking, she knew immediately who had done this and felt rage mix with the sick sensation in her stomach. “Oh… oh Jesus…,” gasped out of her before she was running to the extra parts room. In her panic, she was unaware of metallic clanking coming from down the hall. All she knew was she had to do what she could to put the mascots back together.

Sneakers skidding on the tile, she entered the creepy room; ignoring the empty stares of the extra heads lining the shelves on the walls. Even the arms that seemed to be reaching for her. With a singular purpose, she grabbed a tool box as well as supplies. Then she was running back into the hall, squeaking when she slammed into something rather solid. Landing on her ass, she looked up to see Freddy staring curiously at her. “Dismantled… back room… have to help them,” came out of her before she was trying to get by. She was a bit shocked when she heard the thud of his metallic feet as the animatronic followed her.

Deciding not to worry about it, Rose rushed to her destination; swearing to herself while tears blurred her vision. To her horror, the decapitated head of her friends turned to face her as soon as she entered the room. “J-just hang on. I’ll… I’ll do the best I can to put you guys back together. Christ… I’ve never seen anything this bad before,” she whispered as she rolled up her sleeves and got out her tools. She only paused when the door she had closed slowly opened. Turning her head, she saw Freddy. Motioning for him to come in, she wasn’t surprised when he was followed closely by the others. Making strange screeches, the others began to twitch violently before beginning to help her put their fallen doppelgangers back together.

Elsewhere, in the darkness and silence of the restaurant, a small child giggled at the adventure he was having. Rob Rabbit had asked him and only him to stay behind for a special game of hide and seek. He had waited for such a long time and had almost left with the second group of kids. Now, hiding under the table from the golden rabbit, he was glad he hadn’t. He couldn’t remember ever feeling so excited, yet scared at the same time.

Suddenly, in the gloom of the dining area, he could hear the humming of Rob. The tune of one of the many songs he was familiar with. Pressing his hands against his mouth to keep in his laughter, he felt his tiny heart pound against his ribs as the humming got closer. Then, it was moving away and he was given a few sweet moments where he was allowed to believe he might win the game. Then the hinged, slightly scary face of the friendly bunny was appearing under the table. “Found you,” sing-songed a chipper voice from inside the golden fur of the suit.

“You get two more chances,” advised the mascot, offering a hand to the young boy. Nodding, the child was crawling out; scampering off when his companion began to count once more. He didn’t ask what would happen what would happen if he lost. Such things simply didn’t matter when he was enjoying himself this much. Besides, Rob would probably just pat him on the head and let him go home after. Then he could tell all his friends about how he had stayed at Fredbear’s after closing.

Focusing on trying to rewire the arms, she directed the others in how to repair the rest. As she and her friends worked through the night, it was becoming apparent that neither Fredbear would quite be the same again. Some vital parts had just been taken, leaving him without the ability to move or even speak. Yet, somehow, he still retained his ability to laugh. It should be impossible without his voicebox but Rose found she couldn’t be all that shocked. Instead, she felt both sad as well as deeply violated on her friends’ behalves. Her own Uncle had come in here and torn them apart, had even stolen parts of them.

The worst part was, she would never be able to prove it. Even if she could, there wasn’t anyone left alive that would care enough to stop him. Mr. Bedian had died long ago and his children had never had any interest in the franchise. That left this place entirely in the hands of Roy. As far as the machines went, it was his show to run. Yet, she wasn’t about to just sit by and just leave them disassembled. Wiping her tears she continued to tighten bolts and screws. Even with the help of the others, she had a very long night ahead of her.

Looking up at Rob while he was led to a dark, back area, the boy couldn’t help but wonder if he was really allowed back here. Tightening his grip on the furred appendage around his, he came to the conclusion he was. Why would the rabbit lead him here if he wasn’t. “While you lost, you still get a prize for being such a good hider. Its in this room ahead. Just hold on tight if it gets scary,” assured the voice of his hero, instantly putting him at ease.

Rob would never do anything to hurt him. Rob was a friend to all children. Besides, the bunny was the one that had let him stay after. He had never been allowed to stay up this late and found the entire situation wholly exciting. Nodding, he began to hum the song from before; startling when a huge door rattled open in front of him. “Now close your eyes until I tell you. Uncle Rob is gonna show you something real special,” sighed the same voice from earlier, holding a slight edge he didn’t like. He just couldn’t put his finger on why.

Yawning, she tightened the final bolt on the old Chica’s head; feeling exhausted down to her very soul. Yet, she could rest until she knew all her friends were alright. Thankfully, to her relief, they began to get to their feet one by one. The two versions of Fredbear were the only exceptions. “I’m glad you’re okay. I just wish I could prevent it from happening again. For some reason, Roy has one Hell of a vendetta against you guys,” whispered out of her as she allowed herself to sit down on the chilly, oil stained tile.

“Ksssshhh zrrtttt th-thank y-you for ea- ea- bzzzrt fixing us R-r-r-ose,” stuttered out of Bonnie’s voicebox while Foxy gently bent to pick her off the floor.

In the delivery bay, nothing was there to witness what was happening or even hear the distressing noises. No one but a pair of shadows seeming to lurk behind the towers of cardboard boxes. Shadows that didn’t look like they belonged to any human being. Shadows that had glowing red eyes. Shadows that followed the purple clad figure while they carried a small, limp bundle in their arms. Shadows that saw when that tiny bundle was simply dumped into a dumpster. Shadows that dug the bundle back out again.

Moving down the hall with his precious burden, Foxy didn’t have to turn his head to know his fellows were behind him. In their own way, they cared for this odd female. This human who had treated them like they were alive long before she had found out their secret. Staring down at her, he felt the beginnings of a foreign emotion sparking across his circuits. It was protectiveness, something he and the others normally only felt for the children.

Laying her down on the stage of his cove, he wished he knew where to find some soft things to lay her on. The best he could do was use the vest he wore as a makeshift pillow. Pulling away from her, he moved toward the shadows waiting for him in the doorway. Despite being unable to move, Fredbear still gave the orders. Right now, he wanted them to go to the party room. The body of a child had been found and something must be done.

Moving stiffly into the huge room, the animatronic moved toward the shadowy, almost solid looking figures standing on the stage. At their feet lay the boy of the boy as well as an odd looking doll. A doll that was the same size as they were and appeared to be an unused mascot. Freddy was the first to mount the platform, picking up the body of the child. Bonnie was next, tearing open the body of the massive jester puppet. Chica came third, taking the body from Freddy to place in the cavity of the doll. Foxy was last, sewing up the tear with his one good hand.

Staring down at the smiling, white face of the marionette, the small group looked up at the shadowy twins. Red eyes flashed and the unnaturally long limbs of the lifeless thing lifted. Slowly, blue paint began to dribble from its blackening eyes; resembling tears in a haunting manner. Then it was slowly sitting up, moving like it was controlled by a drunken puppeteer. Looking down at the cloth gloves that were its new hands, its thin chest began to writhe while chilling laughter echoed from an unused voicebox.

Floating deep in comfortable darkness, Rose frowned when she felt something trying to rouse her. Hissing, she rolled away from the person shaking her; only to have a chuckle grace her ears. “Come on beautiful. There’s a much more comfortable spot to nap in my office,” offered a familiar, slightly nasally mid-tone from above her. Opening one eye, she felt a bit of her die when she saw Scott. Of course he would find her, he was on night duty temporarily. Still, she cursed her luck that it had to be her crush, of all people.

“Thanks for the offer. I had to do some late night repairs, came an explanation while she allowed the purple clad security guard to pull her to her feet. Then she was allowing him to lead her to his office, honestly looking forward to the couch he had in there. While it was small, it was bound to be more comfortable than the Cove stage. Still, she couldn’t help but notice Foxy was still missing as she walked out of the room.

The next day, all Hell broke loose. One of the kids from the first group yesterday had gone missing and the mother was in complete hysterics. She had called the restaurant twenty times despite the cops already investigating and finding nothing. Yet, Rose had a vaguely sick feeling inside. A feeling that told her she knew all too well what had happened. That she knew who had been responsible and his name was Jeremy Fitzgerald. Looking up at him, she did her best to read his face while he swept up nothing.

To her horror, he was still smiling. In fact, he seemed even happier today; whistling one of the songs that was popular with the kids. Worse still, the trio on the stage were all staring at him; their mouths yawning open. In her brief experience with their living behaviors, it was a show of aggression. It immediately filled her with a deep dread. Had the newbie really done something to the boy who had never come home. If he did, what on Earth did he do with the body? Making a note to ask her friends after work, she kept a much closer eye on Jeremy for the rest of the day.


	4. Stare Into Madness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note: Rose meets with the Marionette. Should be interesting.

Ticking of a clock echoes easily off concrete walls, the faint sounds of a child crying mixing with much louder music. Music that sounded like it came from a Jack-in-the-Box. Pressing a spindly hand on a wall, the thing that used to be a boy slid into the nothing between. A place where you could watch without being seen. A place where your physical limitations did not matter. It did not know why it was doing this, only that it must remember. It must remember why it was so angry. Why it felt so betrayed. Why it felt such a burning need to do something about it.

So it watched. It watched the children playing with the animatronics and felt a need to join them. It wanted to laugh. It wanted to sing. Most of all, it wanted to know why it hated the color purple so much. Why it wanted to harm the grown-ups but protect the children. Why was it alive? It couldn’t ever remember being so before. Not to mention these feelings didn’t feel like its own. Fumbling at its chest in the empty nothing, it was shocked to feel something warm nestled inside it. Something young. Something that had once been alive but was no longer. Closing its eyes, it allowed its mind to drift so it could communicate with whatever this was was inside it.

Out of the corner of her eye, Rose noticed her friends were shifting around a lot more than they normally would. Every now and again, they would look at a wall or a vent; eyes shining red briefly. Unfortunately, she couldn’t really do much about it. It was time for Scott to take over as night security and she had done all the cleaning that had been needed. Giving the trio on the stage a hug each, she moved off in the cove to say goodbye to Foxy. She didn’t see the almost spider-like figure drop out of the ceiling.

Spindly limbs held up an equally thin body, red points blinking on in the inky gloom. Tinny music began to play, sounding like a wind-up music box but a bit more eerie. Straightening, the strange shadow giggled when the three on the stage turned to look at it. One by one, their mouths yawned open as they began to move toward the thing. “N-not h-her,” stammered out of Freddy, brows lowering into a frown while faint clanking came from the hall outside the party room. The thing only giggled before flickering out of existence again.

Flipping on the light inside her exceedingly humble house, she felt an odd reluctance to go any further inside. As ridiculous as it was, some instinct was warning her against being here; a feeling she had never felt before. Not even when Mr. Bedian had given her this place. It had always felt safe, a place she could relax and just be herself. Somehow, tonight was different and she didn’t really know why. Pushing the oddly cold sensation aside with great difficulty, she entered her living room; unease shooting through her when an icy feeling settled over her flesh.

Licking suddenly dry lips, the min wage employee felt her heart pound against her ribs when the lights blinked out behind her. Red circles that so resembled her friends’ eyes appeared in front of her but she had a feeling that whatever this was, it wasn’t any of them. Suddenly, there was a tinny, deranged laugh followed by music you would hear in a baby’s nursery. Yet it was twisted somehow, giving chills rather than any type of comfort. “Uh, h-hello. You must be someone I haven’t met before,” whispered a small voice that sounded so much like a stranger that she came very close to looking around for the other person. The only response was more of that laughter, sounding a bit like a mischievous child.

“I’m sorry if I s-sound a bit scared but… well… I am… I don’t mean any of you any harm. In fact, I consider many of the others my good friends. I see no reason why we couldn't be the same,” Rose continued, feeling more apprehension the longer there wasn’t a response.

The crimson points of illumination tilted slightly before there was just a child singing. No words, just a simple tune that made the fine hairs on her arms stand on end. When a hand landed on her shoulder from behind, she came dangerously close to shooting through the ceiling. It certainly didn’t help that said appendage was metal. “M-matey,” stuttered a robot voice in her ear, filling her with instantaneous relief. It was Foxy, the one animatronic she had been allowed the build by herself from parts left over by Fritz. Of all the mascots, she felt the deepest connection with him.

“B-be… s-s-top-p-p kssshrt,” came a broken command from just behind the vulpine machine.

Finally, whatever had been waiting for her there simply allowed the lights to come back on. Of course, it was long gone but she wasn’t all that bothered by this fact. Slipping to her knees, she felt tears of fear leave her while her body shook all over. She had never felt such malice before. Yet, under it, there was confusion as well as sadness. Whatever she was dealing with was extremely dangerous and wasn’t to be underestimated. Covering her face while uncontrollable sobs left her, she leaned into the furred machines that wrapped their arms around her.

 

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Next Morning~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

 

Staring up at the cartoon version of Fredbear on the cheerful sign, Rose felt a shudder roll through her. Since last night, she had been reluctant to come back here. Something about the thing that had visited her felt wrong. It had also felt angry. Rubbing the chilled skin under the purple t-shirt the company forced them all to wear, she reluctantly reached for the handle of one of the glass doors that lead into the darkened building. Like most mornings, she had beaten both Roy and Jeremy here. This meant she would be here alone for at least an hour.

Shaking off the urge to flee, the young woman forced herself to walk into the eatery; flicking on the light switch in the entry. She nearly fled right back outside when she saw all the animatronics lined up in front of her. Swearing while she took a few breaths to get her heart to restart, she gave the machines in front of her a weak scowl. “Really, after what I went through last night. You’re going to do  _ that _ to me?” grumbled out of her, her tone more playful than scolding.

Jerking slightly, the quartet at least had the grace to look ashamed before motioning in unison that they wanted hugs. Foxy in particular seemed eager, a strange look in the singular golden eye that was visible. Rolling blue eyes, she moved to her favorite Captain first. When a cold nose nuzzled into her neck, she let out a gasp of shock before looking up at the robot. A strange whirring noise came from deep within the fox’s mechanics, emulating a computerized purr. It almost seemed like he had been worried.

Smiling up at Foxy, she backed out of his arms to move to the others. None of them seemed put out by the fact she had hugged the vulpine first. They simply accepted her affection before shambling off to their appointed spots. In a few hours, it would be time to let in yet another wave of children. More than likely, one of them would vomit. Some vindictive part of her hoped it would be on the new guy and that it would be full of nasty chunks. Maybe then, that creepy smile would leave his too pale face. A smile that made her look forward to the day Scott would be back on dayshift. She didn’t know how much longer she could put up with the other guy. Not to mention the fact that she wanted him away from the children as soon as possible.

Sweeping up around the stage, she saw a brief glimpse of something that made her blood run cold. For the briefest of moments, she could have sworn she saw blood on the ebony surface. After she blinked, however, it was gone; making her wonder if she had just lost her senses. Leaning against the one part of the wall that didn’t have a poster, she closed her eyes for a moment to regain her composure. Yet, no matter what she did, there was an underlying tension in the atmosphere. Not to mention she thought she could smell something coppery. Almost like… Shaking herself, she got back to work.

Rose had been so absorbed in what she had been doing that she had no idea that her Uncle and Jeremy had arrived. At least until the greenhorn had placed a hand on one of her shoulders. Feeling a bit like her soul had come out of her mouth, she whirled around to glower at her ‘trainee’. “If you have nothing better to do than to scare the shit out of me, you can go sweep up the cove and make sure everything is ready,” growled out of her while her heart did its best to beat its way out of her sternum. Giving her a salute, the grinning man wandered back out of the party room; making her shudder slightly.

Soon, the pair was working hard; making sure there were plenty of tables as well as plates and party hats. They were having one of their higher profile regulars here today and Roy wanted everything perfect. The family had been having birthdays here since Fazbear’s had opened its doors so it was easy to see why. “Alright Fitz, let’s get that blasted costume on you again. Rob is a big favorite on the floor,” Rose commanded, ushering her purple clad companion into the back. It was a routine she had been through many times and today would be no different. Hopefully, none of the kids would go missing this time.

Unbeknownst to them, the two humans were being watched. Two shadows lurked in the corners of the room. Shadows that had no right being there but you wouldn’t notice unless you were looking out for it. Shadows that weren’t even remotely human. Shadows that possessed red eyes and seemed to shimmer in and out of reality. Accompanying these strange figures was something else. Something hidden deep in the spaces unreachable by the human eye. A thing that was unnaturally thin. A thing that was just beginning to remember what it used to be and how it had become what it was now. A thing that recognized Jeremy and hated him.

Yet… the other. The other was forbidden to it for reasons it could not comprehend. The other wore purple too. Why were they not as guilty as the one who had… who caused this to happen? Why was the other being protected? It would watch. It would understand. It would stay out of things for now. There was something about the other that its fellows liked. Something that made them consider the other a friend. Especially given how much trouble it had gotten into for its harmless visit last night. It had been treated like it had killed the other when it hadn’t even harmed a hair on the other’s head. There was also the fact that the other had made no move to hurt it either.

Maybe… maybe the other was not like the beast. Maybe the other really was a friend to all of them. If that was the case, why was the other helping the creature? Why did it appear that they worked together? Would the other help the beast to kill more? Would the other animatronics become like it did? Its thoughts were interrupted by a fresh flood of children, filling it with a deep fear. Yet, the other only seemed interested in making sure they had a good time. The other made no move to get any of them alone, unlike what the beast had done to it. If it could frown, it would definitely be doing so now.

Despite the light atmosphere, there was a very slight, dark feeling clinging to the edges. Even the band seemed to feel it, their singing a bit more halting than it normally was. Every so often, one of the trio would look at one of the corners of the room but she would see nothing when her own eyes strayed there. In all honesty, she hoped it didn’t haven anything to do with what had happened to her last night. She’d had a hard enough time just falling asleep after that little visit, let alone the nightmares. Just thinking about them made her shudder.

They had been twisted, dark things. Full of blood, children screaming and flashes of chilling imagery. Flashes of knives, smiles full of teeth and a golden rabbit that had a man’s head inside its own. It all felt very scattered, almost like the memories of a young child. Because of that, she had awoken highly unsettled and reluctant to come in to work for the first time in her life. Not to mention the fact she was more than a little frightened of her visitor. Back in the days of Mr. Bedian, the character had simply been known as ‘The Jester’. He had been deemed too scary for the kids and shelved before he had a chance to make it to the stage. She had only seen him once, giving him the name Jasper due to feeling sorry for him. As far as she knew, no sound equipment had ever been installed in him. Not even a voicebox.

Needless to say, this made the fact that it had laughed even creepier. She had no desire to run into ‘Jasper’ again, even in the daylight. Heaven knew what he would do to her. He certainly didn’t seem to like her, which she couldn’t blame him for. While the others had been cared for to the best of her abilities, he had been left to rot; much like Rob. It wouldn’t surprise her to find out he was angry at her. Still, why was he moving around  _ now _ after decades of just laying there. Had something happened to trigger it? Worst of all, did it have anything to do with the missing child?

Shuddering, she forced her attention back onto ‘Rob’ and the children. Thankfully, all of the kids had stayed in one group today. This meant that they would move to the Cove as one and there would be no chance of any of them being left with Jeremy. While she didn’t like to think he was capable of doing anything to a kid, she couldn’t ignore the gut feeling she had about the guy. He was just plain weird and she would feel a lot better once the work day was over. Yet, the end of the day would leave her with all new problems.

She technically still had to clean, as did her new partner. At least she wouldn’t be alone in the shop. While it wouldn’t have bothered her normally, she had a feeling tonight would be different. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it but there was something about the atmosphere today. Something a bit menacing and more than a little scary. Something that felt a bit like the dark being that had visited the other night. Something that made her skin prickle and filled her with an instinctual need to flee. Even now, she longed to hide behind the trio on the stage.

Looking towards the mechanized band, she allowed the sounds of the kids being served their pizza to fade into the background. To her shock, they were staring directly at her; as if they knew what she had been thinking. Freddy even gave a very subtle nod, obviously trying to tell her something. After their intervention yesterday, she had a fairly good idea they were trying to tell her they would protect her. Smiling at her friends, she felt her heart buoy just slightly. Just knowing they cared about her as much as she did them filled her with warmth.

Mouthing a thank you, she turned back to the room in front of her. Next, the kids would head to the Cove. This meant it was time for Jeremy to change out of his costume. Next would come a few hours in the arcade and the inevitable fight to get the children back out the building. The more wily ones hid in the ball pit, where they knew no grown-up could get to them. Though, eventually, they could be lured out with enough bribes. Bribes that more than likely went as unfulfilled as the threats never to bring them back here again. It was all just part of the routine but it never failed to amuse her. Some of those kids could get quite inventive in how they tried to get away.

Some even utilized the tube systems, taunting pissed parents from the clear orbs that overlooked the room. That one had to be her favorite. Those kids had almost always been through all the bribing before and were a lot less likely to come out. It also took more than empty threats. All too often, desperate parents would call her in as a last resort. Thankfully, she was authorized to use extreme means to get the kids out. Usually, this meant offering a plush or one of their high powered squirt guns. Showing them the goods was all it took to sucker the child down. After that, the kid was banned from using any of the playground again. Mostly due to the fact that luring them out again would be next to impossible.

Moving in the back to help the newbie remove Rob, she was dismayed to find the unease from earlier had gotten much worse. It was so bad, it almost felt like the temperature had dropped several degrees. Looking around on instinct, she felt the hair on the back of her neck raise when she saw something moving through the shadows. Licking her dry lips, she followed Jeremy into the room they used to change; helping him carefully remove the bulky head.  Just as she got it off him, she saw a shadow move in the back. A shadow that suspiciously resembled Bonnie. Shuddering, she placed the costume on the shelf as quickly as possible before practically running out of the room. She had run so fast, in fact, that she had left Jeremy behind.

Scratching his head, the new hire simply shrugged. He hadn’t been here long enough to really form an opinion of Rose. Still, so far, she seemed more than a little bit odd. Not unkind. Just a bit.. strange. Then again, weren’t they all? Shaking his head, the young man got to his feet to leave. That was when he got the oddest feeling. The feeling that he was being watched. This wasn’t the first time either. Those damn animatronics… Since day one, they had made him feel uneasy. It almost felt like they hated him, a notion that was ridiculous. They were machines. They didn’t have any feelings. Still, sometimes, it was harder to shake off that feeling than he would like to admit. Not to mention the feeling that they… knew.

A metallic clank from the back made him jump, dark eyes widening while he backed toward the door. Not taking his eyes off the darkness that ate up the back half of the room, he had the most horrible feeling that the door would simply be locked. So, when the knob turned, he took his opportunity and ran. He never saw the two pairs of red eyes flash in the inky void. He never heard the laughter that would have been all too familiar too him. He never felt the extreme drop in temperature while malice began to pour from the mass of darkness.

Getting a head start on the sweeping, Rose was a bit surprised when her trainee came running from the back. The paleness of his face suggested he had seen something that had disturbed him greatly. “What happened to you? See a ghost?” she asked, having a nagging feeling in the back of her head he had just had a visit from ‘Jasper’ as well.

“What? Oh, no… Just… No…,” came a response that had her raising a brow. Still, if he didn’t want to talk about it, she really couldn’t make him.

Shrugging it off, the young woman decided to just leave it alone. Besides, whatever had happened had finally wiped that ever loving smile off his face. He actually looked a bit scared instead of looking like he was about to do some horrifying thing. It almost made her thankful to the odd little creature she had encountered last night. Chuckling softly, she shook her head before moving on to mopping the stage. This crop of kids had been surprisingly well-behaved, leaving a minimum amount of mess in their wake. It almost made her want to pinch herself to see if she was dreaming. Tonight would be a fairly easy one for once.

As soon as the last kernel of stray popcorn was swept up, Jeremy was fleeing like his ass had been lit on fire. Not too keen on being left alone but even less willing to leave without saying goodbye to her friend s , Rose stayed behind. As soon as the front doors swung shut, she really wished she hadn’t. Immediately, a chill filled the air while the fluorescent bulbs above her flickered wildly. Staring up at the ceiling, she instinctually backed toward the stage; seeking safety from the trio standing there. So, when she bumped into something rather solid, she had to bit e back what would have been an extremely loud scream.

Turning around, she saw her friends had come down to back her up; moving in a jerky manner to stand by her side. From the sound of the metallic thuds coming from down the hall, Foxy was also coming. Instantaneous relief filled her just knowing they would support her. Still, she had to restrain herself from running to the vulpine robot that opened the door. As weird as it would sound, he was the one she felt safest with. Maybe it had to do with the fact that she had built him with her bare hands while the others had been sourced out after Roy had taken over. At least the outer shells. He was too cheap to replace the endoskeletons themselves.

As if sensing her thoughts, the furred pirate quickly closed the distance to stand directly behind her. Just in time too because that was the exact moment the lights went out. Breathing in sharply through her nose, Rose did her best to swallow down her fear. A feat that wasn’t easy, especially when a pair of eye flashed in the abyss the room had turned into.  This was soon followed by the same laughter from last night, sending a chill skittering up her spine with tiny claws. The quartet tensed, going into protective poses that did worlds to help her feel safer.

Out of the gloom, a spindly figure gradually became visible. It was, indeed, Jasper. Just like she had thought. Still, seeing him in silhouette wasn’t doing much for her frazzled nerves. “Jasper, if that’s you, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to just leave you in the back for all those years,” she began, hoping against hope that would placate the machine. Bulbous head jittering in a sickening manner, the jester animatronic flew toward her. Lacking any endoskeleton or mechanics, its limbs were limp like a marionette’s. This illusion was only helped with how it moved like it was controlled by a demented puppeteer. As its pale face came out of the shadows, she saw something that gave her a start. There were now painted tears on its laughing face. Tears that certainly hadn’t been there before.

Empty eyes seemed to study her, a vaguely rotten scent coming from its cloth body. Fighting the urge to back away, she simply met the unused mascot’s vacant sockets. “N-not th-th-the s-same bzrshh,” intoned Freddy’s voice to her right, making her jump slightly.

“What? What do you mean not the same?” husked out of her before the thing was grabbing her upper arms with thin hands. Eyes rolling back in her head, she passed out while nightmares filled her consciousness.


	5. Year One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note: Next few chapters will have time skips. Mostly to get the story along. Each chapter will be a year. (There’s only so much I can do by writing bout job chores. Ultra exciting)

_~~_ _~~~~~~~~_ _~~~~~~~~_ _~~~~~~~~_ _~~~~~~~~_ _Month One_ _~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_ _~~~~~~~~_ _~~~~~~~~_ _~~_

 

To say there was tension would be a severe understatement. While Rose knew why  _ she _ was afraid, she couldn’t say the same for Jeremy. Ever since the day he had come from the back pale as a sheet, he was acting almost paranoid. While he was out of Rob, his eyes would be wandering over to dark corners, like he was expecting to see something there. Maybe he really  _ had _ met ‘Jasper’. Yet, why had the odd animatronic shown itself to him? Was there more going on than the thing simply feeling neglected? Did it have anything to do with the awful images it had filled her dreams with until Scott had found her? She sincerely hoped it didn’t.

Those dreams had seemed to be told through the eyes of the child, the point of view being much closer to the ground than she was used to. As far as she could tell, she had been hiding; a voice off in the distance calling for her. Saying it was going to find her. Yet, it was all wrong. While the body she seemed to inhabit felt excited, she felt a deep seated sense of dread. Like something awful was about to happen. Then the tablecloth she was hiding under had been lifted, a pair of glowing eyes blinding her. The rest happened in a blur. A blur of blood, screaming and a deep sense of betrayal. Needless to say, she had been rather shaken up when she woke up.

Still, at least he wasn’t showing anymore of his worrying behavior. The smile had been wiped off his face and he seemed almost afraid to make eye contact with the kids. A fact that confused her but she was honestly grateful for. Yet, the animatronics seemed to keep an even closer eye on him than before. When they weren’t performing, their glassy gazes were fixed on the costumed employee. It was like they knew something she didn’t. Unfortunately, she didn’t think she could get much from them. Between their glitchy voice-boxes and limited vocabulary, it was near impossible to get good information from them.

 

_ ~~ _ _ ~~~~~~~~ _ _ ~~~~~~~~ _ _ ~~~~~~~~ _ _ ~~~~~~~~Month Three~~ _ _ ~~~~~~~~ _ _ ~~~~~~~~ _ _ ~~~~~~~~ _ _ ~~~~~~~ _

 

“Fitz seem a bit… twitchy lately?” came a question that startled Rose out of her daydreams. Jolting slightly, she looked up at her fellow employee with hazy, cerulean eyes.

“Huh? What were you saying?” yawned out of her, the circles around her eyes more prominent than they had ever been.

Tilting his head slightly, Scott sighed before resting his hand over hers. “More importantly, are  _ you _ okay?” murmured the older man, the harsh lights reflecting off his sandy colored hair. Sighing, the exhausted woman gave her friend a weary smile.

“Haven’t been sleeping all that great these nights…,” husked out of her, her voice a dusty croak that made her reach for her glass of soda.

Sighing, the temporary night guard shook his head. “I can see that. If you needed to rest, you should have told me. We could always have lunch some other time,” he admonished gently, his own blue eyes glimmering with deep concern.

“Nonsense. With the hours Roy has us on, its a wonder we get any time off as it is. On top of that, you’re my best friend besides the machines and I barely get to see you,” she pointed out after she had taken a hearty sip of her beverage.

Blushing, the man across from her rubbed the back of his head before he cleared his throat. “Still, if Foxy knew I got you sick I don’t think he’d ever forgive me,” came a confession that made her heart stutter in her chest. Did he know they were alive like she did or had it been some offhand comment? With Scott, it was honestly hard to tell. The times she had seen him with Foxy before his debut, it almost seemed like pair had been communicating. Still, that didn’t mean she could afford to expose her secret. Not when she would be seen as insane.

“Don’t be silly,” she tried to play off, slightly testing the waters for his response.

“I’m quite serious Rose. The nights you work overtime… He always seems so worried. Following you around like a little puppy,” he informed, the words making her heart come to a grinding halt in her chest.

“The cameras honey. But that wasn’t the first time I saw them move. However, there’s been something that’s been worrying me,” Scott continued while her panic gradually died away.

Going slightly pale as he licked his lips, the blonde seemed reluctant to continue as he eyes shifted away from hers. Without him saying it, she could already guess what he was talking about. ‘Jasper’. Its behavior was anything but normal, especially with it lacking any means to move itself. “The Jester mascot,” she murmured, watching as he shuddered and nodded.

“I knew about it but I had never seen it move before. Not like the others. Something happened to it. It almost seems… evil,” whispered out of him, terrified eyes shifting around. Almost like he was paranoid about the thing listening. With how odd the being’s behavior was, it wasn’t a strange thing to be worried about.

“I know… And we don’t seem to be the only ones who know about it. Fitz has likely encountered it too. He’s been so jumpy lately, a dangerous prospect while he’s wearing Rob’s costume,” Rose sighed, finding little use in hiding what was going on. In fact, it felt better to have someone to share the insanity with.

“It gets worse. The night that kid disappeared, I thought I saw a child run into the kitchen. With the animatronics moving around, I played it off as one of them. Now…,” Scot informed, his words making the fine hairs on her arms stand on end. Just what the Hell was going on here?

“Any way the footage was recorded?” she asked, dreading the answer. When the man across from her shook his head, she felt her heart drop into the pit of her stomach.

“You know your Uncle is to cheap to put any tapes in the cameras. He figures having a live feed is good enough,” came the response she had expected. Unfortunately, this also meant nothing else was ever likely to be saved for evidence. Still, what did it all mean?

 

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Month Four~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

 

Sitting in the back room, repairing the older versions of the band on the stage; Rose hummed a soft song to herself. While she could feel the cold eyes of Jasper on her, she found it easy to ignore him. Since the first two encounters, the odd animatronic had yet to show himself to her again. Still, she could feel its presence. While she wanted to ask what it wanted and why it was suddenly so active, she knew she wouldn’t get much of a response out of it. It couldn’t speak beyond the chilling laughter it was able to let out. At least the hulks that were left of her friends were good company and seemed to keep an eye out for her.

Even Fredbear, letting out an occasional chuckle while his eyes shone at her. While he had no voice box either, she wasn’t surprised by his ability to continue to make sound. The only one that was completely still was the slumped form of poor Rob. His wires hung freely from the open gaps in his arms, his once golden fur turning a distressing shade of green from the mold growing all over him. It honestly broke her heart but there was nothing she could do for the old mascot. All the spare parts were allocated for the others. Besides, it seemed like he was no longer necessarily alive.

Just thinking about it filled her with guilt. She had no idea Roy would neglect the old mascot so badly. Yet, she still felt foolish for thinking anything else. If she had come back here to check on him before he had started to rot away, maybe she could have preserved him like she was doing with the others. Walking over to the heap of rusting metal, she placed a hand on a slumped shoulder while the others she had been working on came to see what she was up to. She was utterly taken off guard when the animatronic made a few, horrific noises before its head lifted and its eyes flickered to life.

Jumping back, Rose could only stare while the abandoned mascot did its best to move its mouth. Due to its joints being firmly rusted together, the circuits meant for movement began to make an unpleasant squealing noise. “Easy! Easy Rob! You’ll only make yourself worse. Just… just hang on! I’ll get some oil and steel wool. You guys, try to keep him awake and calm,” she ordered before getting to her feet so she could sprint to the Spare Parts room. Foxy, who had been standing outside the room to keep watch, was right on her heels.

“Rob woke up. I have to do what I can to help him. I can’t just allow him to die,” came an explanation while shaky hands opened a door.

“Aye m-matey,” buzzed a mechanical voice from behind her, the animatronic vulpine grabbing what it could with the hand it had. Then, the pair was heading back to the ailing machine.

 

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Month Six~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

 

Rob became her secret project, helping her forget about the strangeness that was Jasper. Jeremy, on the other hand, seemed to be growing more paranoid every day. What was worse was the way he was starting to look at some of the children. While he hadn’t done anything to harm any of them, it seemed like it would only be a matter of time. It was something about his body language. It set off all the alarm bells inside her head. Unfortunately, without any proof of wrong doing, her uncle was extremely unlikely to listen to her concerns. Especially since he and Jeremy got along so well.

It wasn’t lost on her that the two of them would go out for drinks every night. Or the fact that Roy was often a lot more patient with the new recruit. It almost made her wonder if there was some connection between the pair that she wasn’t seeing. Sighing as she moved into the room where the decommissioned animatronics were kept. The best she could do was force herself to think about other things. Like the fact thet she had at least gotten Rob’s jaw to move after a lot of work. Still, there was nothing she could do for the mess that was his voicebox.

Like Fredbear and Jasper, he was doomed to be silent but that didn’t seem to stop him. He was able to let out a warped version of his laugh, sending goosebumps dancing up her arms every time it happened. At least the golden furred rabbit wasn’t angry at her, seeming honestly relieved to be finally getting some maintenance. There was also the fact that helping him was improving her already exemplary standing with the animatronics. The older versions of the mascots seemed much more affectionate than before, giving her a hug in greeting as soon as she opened the door. It was almost like they considered her to be part of their family at this point.

Even Rob wasn’t angry with her, just seemed happy to have what life he had saved. And, while he couldn’t really move due to the damage to his gyros as well as the rust, he still seemed to enjoy being touched. It had been so long since the mascot had seen anyone that she couldn’t really blame him. Still, she couldn’t help but apologize to him every time she saw his slumped figure. It would take a long time before she was able to fully forgive herself for not making sure he was actually dead. For allowing him to suffer as long as he had.

There was also something else. Jasper. For some reason, the Jester animatronic kept following her around. As if it was trying to figure her out and was having no success. What was worse was the dreams kept getting more and more vivid, almost seeming like she was living them out herself. On top of that, during the nightmare she felt a deep sense of foreboding. A sense of being hunted that left her paranoid when she awoke. Yet, the thing seemed to be growing more friendly towards her. Like she was slowly earning its trust through the amount of care she showed to the machines. Just recently, it seemed like it was trying to communicate. As if it was trying to tell her something. Even weirder, it seemed to be about Jeremy.

Its hatred for the newbie was becoming more and more apparent simply through the fact it wouldn’t leave him alone. While it never came out of hiding around Fitz, Jasper went out of its way to make his life a living Hell. It would tip over the mop bucket or shove the poor guy while he was wearing Rob, a fairly aggressive action given the fact the costume was full of springs that were under extreme amounts of pressure. If even one came loose, it would likely kill the person wearing the outfit. It almost seemed like Jasper had a grudge against Jeremy for reasons she couldn’t even begin to comprehend. Unfortunately she had no way to ask the mysterious machine what was going on. On top of the lack of voicebox, it likely wouldn’t explain itself to her in the first place. The best she could do was continue with her daily routine and do her best to try to ignore the oddness.

 

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Month Eight~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

 

Gripping his head in his hands, Jeremy clenched his eyes shut while he did his best to block out the voices. Or, to be more precise, the singular voice that had been haunting him non-stop for months now. “Shut up,” hissed out of him, his voice strained while his fingertips dug into his scalp. The only response he got was insane laughter echoing down the passageways of his mind, driving him that much closer to the ragged edge of going insane.

“Just leave me alone! I didn’t mean to… it was all an accident!” he protested to the empty room, gritting his teeth as the laughter morphed into something else. Something sinister and taunting.

Growling low in his throat, he punched the wall of his tiny room; huffing in and out while his dark eyes glared at the dents. At last, this seemed to quiet the strange noise rippling through him like nails on a chalkboard. “Just… just leave me the fuck alone already. You have no idea what I’m going through. Besides, what does any of this matter? You’re dead, alright? There’s nothing I can do about that,” whispered an unsteady voice, hoping to placate something lurking in the shadows. Unseen, three pairs of red eyes flashed in a dark corner of the room. As if in response to his murmured words.

Whistling while the keys to the pizzeria jingled in her hand, Rose unlocked the door to enter the darkened building. As she made her way toward the first light switch, she saw the pale face of Jasper appear in the gloom in front of her. Licking her dry lips, she paused her hand; despite desperately wanting to turn on the light and banish the odd animatronic. “Are you… okay?” whispered a shy squeak, sounding more like a mouse than a grown woman. The ghostly visage with painted tears simply gave a slow nod before floating toward her, the bits of it that were white standing out in clear relief.

“Then, is there anything I can help you with?” she gasped out, thankful that her voice sounded a bit stronger than before. Another nod before metallic clanking came from down the corridor.

Knowing full well it was Foxy, Rose called to the mechanical vulpine that she was alright. Last thing she wanted was for Jasper to be frightened off. Not when it felt like they were finally beginning to communicate. Seeming confused, the forgotten mascot floated down so its empty sockets met hers. Then, ever so faintly, a young child’s voice came from the grin that had been carved into its mask-like face. A voice that said “Help…,” instantly making all the hairs on her body stand on end. Before she could press the issue, she heard two voices behind her; making her instinctually turn to see who it was. Seeing it was her uncle and Jeremy, she turned back to face her strange companion; only to find that he was already gone.

Perplexed, Rose simply turned on the lights before Roy had the opportunity to yell at her for not doing so already. Thankfully, Foxy had also moved back to the Cove; eliminating another of her worries. Not paying any attention to the men, she simply moved into the party room to start her day. Whatever was going on would have to wait until after work. They had a fuller schedule than usual today. She had to be ready for anything, including the inevitable increase in mess as well as puke. It was like a rule that kids make as large a mess as possible while they were here.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _ Month Ten _ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Staring at the invitation in her hands, Violet couldn’t help but feel excited. This would be the first time she had ever been invited to a party. Not only that, but it was being held at Fazbear’s Family Diner; one of her favorite places on the planet, She had begged to go there every birthday, even had a plush toy of each animatronic. The only one she didn’t have was Foxy due to him being so new. Despite knowing she would still be out of luck, a huge part of her hoped there would be some this time. Of all the animatronics, he was her favorite. Often, she spent most of her time in the Cove long after the assigned show was over.

To be honest, it almost felt like the huge machine was alive; seeming to smile at her once everyone was gone. One time, when she was sure no one else was looking, she had reached out to pet him. As soon as her hand had met his soft, red fur, there had been a soft, purring noise that startled her at first. Yet, she had felt no need to pull her hand away. Instead, she had hugged the artificial animal before hearing a call of her name. Since then, she had secretly hoped to see him move. Maybe then, she could officially ask him to be her friend. Just the thought of it made her feel excited from the simple fact that she would have a secret all her own.

Gathering her jacket, the young girl sprinted out of her room; the pink dress she had chosen by herself rustling with her movement. Chuckling, her mother bent to give her dark hair an affectionate ruffle before grabbing the present off the table. A gift the young girl had also insisted on wrapping herself. She was getting to the age where she was wanting to be very independent, no matter the result. Still, Miranda could only feel pride for her headstrong girl. When she got older, she would no doub

t break her share of hearts. “Ready Miss Violet?” she inquired, doing her best to treat her eight year old like a lady with a straight face.

“Indeed mother,” came a forced, sophisticated tone that was far beyond her young age. Fighting back a snicker, the matriarch led the young girl out into the bright sunlight.

Tinny, cheesy music, the smell of cheaply made pizza, stale popcorn and soda. The mechanical band swayed drunkenly, their stiff joints moving while the songs came from their flapping jaws. It wasn’t exactly Disney level but you would never know it by how enthralled the tiny audience was. The all too brief performances were the only time the hellions were still as well as silent, giving the chaperons and parents of the birthday child a much needed reprieve. Needing some time to be their own age, the adults would strike up conversations amongst themselves; allowing the man in the golden rabbit costume to keep an eye on the rest.

Letting out a deep chuckle, the chipper mascot made his way from table to table; serving pizza to the eager children. None of them were aware of the pair of crazed, desperate eyes that watched from within the costume. Eyes that were moving to Violet. A girl so young that was trying so hard to be an adult. A girl that seemed to be heading his way with a huge grin on her cherub-like face. “Rob! Its been so long since I’ve seen you! Can I have a hug?” she gushed, forgetting all about the fact that she was supposed to be a lady due to how excited she was. It was almost like she was greeting an old friend.

Kneeling so he was eye level, the golden rabbit opened his arms for the child. With musical laughter, she ran into his embrace. As soon as she  was close enough, her expression changed to curiosity as she listened to the whispering coming from Rob. Slowly, ever so slowly, a large grin curled her lips before she was giving the lapine a gentle hug. Running off to join the other children, she spared one last glance behind her; giving her second favorite a tiny wave. Tonight, her wish would come true. While it wouldn’t be with Foxy, she wasn’t about to turn down an opportunity to have a secret adventure with one of the Fazbear Friends. It would be all she could do to keep her anticipation to herself.

 

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Later That Night~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

 

A tiny, crumpled figure, three shadowy forms in the gloom. Six, red eyes flashing briefly before a tall, slender silhouette began to float forward. A hand with four, spider-like digits reaches out  to touch a soft cheek; a  quie t, mechanical song beginning to play.  Mechanical clanking echoes in the empty room, drawing the hidden being to turn to face the newcomers. More eyes flicker on in the darkness, the red  light giving the entire scene a surreal feeling.  Then the points of light all centered on the small bundle, becoming like a blood tinted spotlight.

With a few clanks, Foxy came forward; scooping the child into his faux fur coated arms.  Lifting his head, he met the red gaze of the Mannequin. After a few moments,  the thin machine gave a slow nod. Slowly, the others enclosed Foxy and the child. Eventually blocking them both from sight. When they dispersed again, only the mechanized vulpine was left; jittering in place while its mouth yawned open in a silent scream; a girl’s voice coming from the depths of his mechanics.

 

_ ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Month Twelve ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ _

 

Two months, the poor girl had been missing and Roy was doing everything he could to divert suspicion from the restaurant. Still, the incident wouldn’t matter since the entire franchise was due to change names at any time now. Once that happened, any of the  ev ents that happened under the old name would be simply lost in the legal shuffle. It was disgraceful but there was little Rose could do to stop it. She had much more pressing matters to worry about. Like the fact that Foxy was acting very strange lately, bordering on unpredictable.

Most of the time, he was his normal, protective self. But, every so often, she would catch him staring at her with his mouth open in a menacing manner; his eyes strangely dark. There was also the fact that, just a few days ago, an unpleasant smell had started coming from him as well as Jasper. It almost reminded her of the stench of rancid meat. It was only working on the remains of Rob that was helping to keep her safe amongst the increasing madness. The strange malice that seemed to be pouring off Fitz certainly wasn’t helping either.


	6. Year Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note: Another year passes and things start to get worrisome.

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Month 1~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

 

Staring up at the marque above the restaurant, Rose couldn’t help but shake her head. Some part of her had honestly been hoping her Uncle wasn’t serious about changing a decades old business. A business that had been in the Bedian family since it had started. The only reason it had been passed to Roy was the fact the Mr. Bedian she had known had been unable to have kids. He had trusted Roy to care for the place, to keep the traditions he worked so hard to establish going. To see it all torn apart like this broke her heart. Her only solace was the fact that all the old animatronics were around in some manner. Even Fritz, who had been refurbished to Foxy.

Shaking her head, she opened the door to see the inside was being redone as well. Instead of a family diner, it was now beginning to resemble a cheesy pizzeria. It was then the recent menu changes began to make sense. Her Uncle was trying to become like a rip-off of Chees-E-Chuck’s, the very notion making her skin crawl. Soon, they would have an arcade full of ticket belching machines instead of the ball pits and fairly innocuous kids entertainment littered around. The small jungle gyms would likely be taken out for video games that would bring in more revenue. Just seeing the checker pattern going up on the walls made her skin crawl.

“Ah, Rose! Good to see you’re here early as usual. One would think you actually like this trash heap,” came the teasing voice of her Uncle, drawing her attention to the entry of the dining room. Fighting the urge to shoot him a glower, she simply shook her head before walking toward him. As much as she hated everything happening, she wasn’t about to leave her friends alone. Unlike her, they had no way of escaping; of fighting against any abuse. Poor Rob was enough evidence of what he would do if left to his own devices. So, when he wrapped a meaty arm around her should to pull her closer to his overweight body, she forced a smile on her face.

“Your good with those damn machines right? Think ya could make a Freddy costume out of some spare parts? We gotta replace that damn Rob costume before the change completely takes place. Otherwise, we’ll risk being associated with the old franchise,” cooed in her ear, something in his smarmy tone filling her with the need to get as far away from him as soon as possible. After how hard she had fought him about replacing Rob, this felt a bit like a trick. Like he was trying to give her a project to keep her out of the way during renovations. Still, it wasn’t like she had any  _ real _ choice in the matter.

“You mean like I suggested many times before?” grumbled her sarcastic response, the best she could do given her circumstances. Instead of being angered or put off by response, Roy smiled and gave her back a few hearty pats; coming close to knocking her on her face.

“Why do ya think I’m havin’  _ you _ do it Rosie? I know I was neglectful to keep ol’ Rob around but there didn’t seem to be much of a point to change what was working. Now, with our whole business changing, we gotta get a new mascot. There’s no one else I’d trust to do it,” murmured his almost smarmy tone, making the fine hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Something about this felt off, slimy in a way. Everything inside her was screaming at her to refuse, to just quit and never look back.

Instead, she shook her head while rolling her eyes. “Whatever you say. But Fitz will be on day duty alone. Are you sure that’s okay?” grumbled her only attempt at a protest.

“’Course! He’s been on long enough to know what to do. Besides, he eventually wants to move to the night shift. He’ll need to know all the ins and outs of the business. There’s also the fact we won’t have much business during the renovations. This would be the ideal time to learn how to handle things on his own,” came the handy explanation, filling her with a terrible feeling of dread.

After the odd behavior she had seen from two animatronics coupled with how they acted around Jeremy, she knew it wasn’t a good idea to leave him alone with the kids. She had the strangest feeling he had something to do with the disappearances but she had no real reason to feel that way at all. The only person that could back her up was Scott and he wouldn’t be here until the night shift. The only thing she could do was keep her protests to herself, simply giving a nod before she was heading into the spare parts room. Unfortunately, she wasn’t alone. As soon as she entered the hall, she felt the familiar presence of Jasper.

Fighting off the fear filling her from the malicious energy the animatronic gave off, she turned slowly, feeling her heart thud against her ribs when she saw the telltale red eyes appear in the gloom of poorly lit passage. Since not many guests came here, Roy felt no need to make sure it was well lit or well maintained. “Jasper… you and the others know what’s going on here don’t you?” she whispered, feeling even more apprehensive when the thin silhouette simply floated toward her. Bulbous head nodding, the strange being, wrapped a spindly hand around hers before pulling her down the hall. Instead of fighting, she allowed it to lead her; feeling even more uneasy when they approached the door for the delivery bay.

Looking back at her, the jester animatronic began to let out child-like noises; making her skin crawl as it opened the door to the pitch black room. A room where two pairs of red eyes seemed to be suspended, just staring at her. Making a motion that told her to stay where she was, Jasper moved into the room that looked to be more like an abyss. Unsure of what to do, Rose stood where she was; well aware of the fact that she was beyond any help from her friends. With so many construction people around, they couldn’t afford to walk around like they normally did. She was more alone than she had ever been. Still, she decided to trust Jasper. Especially if it helped her to get to the bottom of things.

All too soon, Jasper was returning; something truly horrifying following behind him. They looked like purple versions of Fredbear and Roy, dark, smoke like tendrils trailing from their twitching bodies. Parts of them seemed to shift into unnatural positions only to pop back to normal like nothing had happened. There was also the fact that parts of their outer shell kept splintering off in random spots all over their bodies, disintegrating into squarish shapes and disappearing only to be back in place. Feeling a bit like she was going mad, she could only stare into the dark maw of the ‘shadow’ Fredbear while it closed over her head.

 

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Night Shift~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

 

Humming to himself while he walked into the restaurant, Scott was a bit impressed by just how much had gotten done during the day shift. Heading to his well hidden, temporary office; he swung open the door without a care in the world. As soon as he was able to see the interior, he saw he was not alone. There, slumped in his chair with his eyes glowing; was Fredbear. Feeling his heart come to a sickening stop, He forced himself to stay put while his entire body began to shake. With the wires and lines required for movement having been removed, there was no way it could be in his office. Yet, he wasn’t surprised to see the old bear. “Uh, h-hi Fredbear. L-long time no see,” he stammered out, wondering what on earth the silent machine could possible want.

Laughter came from deep inside the animatronic’s metal shell before the monitor he used to watch the camera flickered to life. There, in the party room, was a slumped figure that looked an awful lot like Rose. Surrounding her were two shadowy, purple colored figures that seemed to be exact copies of Fredbear and Rob. Hovering over her was Jasper, making terror rush through his veins. Without another word, he was running out of there; leaving the slumped figure of the Fredbear behind. A figure that disappeared as soon as he had turned his back. The only evidence it had been there at all were a few strands of golden fur, blown into the air by the gentle breeze of the fan beside the monitor.

 

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Month Two~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

 

After being found unconscious by Scott, her Uncle had begrudgingly given her a couple weeks off. A fact that had made her more than nervous for the animatronics in the storage room. Not to mention Foxy, who had yet to be updated to the ‘more friendly’ style the others now had. Her only solace was the fact she had keys to the back door and the fact that Scott was willing to allow her to make sure her friends were well maintained. Especially after Fredbear had shown him where to find her and that she was in desperate need of help. An event she was still trying to figure out.

Every day she was on ‘vacation’, she had snuck in through the back entrance; spending most of the night working on Rob. Most of the rust was now gone from his joints and all the rotting wires had been pulled. There wasn’t much she could do for his rotting exterior shell either. Still, he seemed happy; always seeming to perk up as soon as she walked through the door. The only continuing problem was Foxy. He seemed barely in control of himself anymore, staying far away from her while giving her a mournful look. It was almost enough to break her heart.

Thankfully, she was back to work now and was able to spend some much needed alone time with her favorite mascot. Despite the fact he was wildly unpredictable, she wanted to be near him. At least long enough to figure out just what was wrong with him. It certainly helped that Roy had given her less hours to ‘allow her to build the Freddy’ costume. For now, Rob was out of the picture; giving Fitz a chance to actually learn what was expected of him. Now, instead of simply delivering pizzas and keeping a peripheral eye on the kids, he had to go back to helping clean as well as actually making sure they actually didn’t hurt themselves. No doubt he’d be very busy.

Glancing up at the vulpine machine on the stage, she found herself taken back to when she had originally found out all the machines were alive. An event that seemed so long ago after everything that had happened. “Foxy… I want you to know that, no matter what happens, I can never hate you or really be afraid of you. I don’t know exactly is going on here but I still trust you,” she assured, smiling up at the unmoving mascot. The only si gn she got that he had heard her at all was his upper body leaning slightly toward her, his arms slumping at his sides.

“I just… wish you guys could just tell me without scaring the ever loving piss out of me. I can’t even remember what happened the night Scott found me,” she continued, walking over to one of the trashcans to empty out the dustbin.

“R-r-rob-b-b… k-kidszsh,” came a static filled response from the stage, immediately getting her attention.

Licking her suddenly dry lips, Rose asked a question she was fairly certain she already had the answer to. “Rob? Do you mean the one in storage?” squeaked out of her, only to get her a shake of the head. Despite knowing that would be the case, she felt nausea crash over her in a wave. That meant that all her suspicions had been right. That Jeremy had been… Clamping a hand over her mouth while her stomach gave a heave, she ran to the trash can she had just used; vomiting what little she had been able to force down this morning. All the stress had her stomach in knots, being found unconscious by the guy she had a crush on certainly not helping matters. What she didn’t know was the fact that Scott had left several things out about how he had found her. About how there were two animatronics he had never seen before standing on either side of her. Or how blood seem to be coming out of the mouth  of the one that looked like Fredbear.

Once the wave was over, she slowly straightened while wiping the back of her hand over her mouth. “Christ. Fucking Christ… And there will be no evidence of this either, giving Roy no reason to believe me. I can’t even guarantee I can keep an eye on him once I’m done with the Freddy costume,” she gasped, her entire body shaking while her stomach twisted and turned. Feeling a cold sweat settle over her, she leaned into Foxy when he jerkily wrapped his fur covered arms around her. Taking comfort from the contact, she fought to ignore the rotting meat smell coming from him; let alone what it could mean when added to what she had just found out. If anything else happened, she would likely snap; running for home and never coming back. Not to mention the fact she would seek out some serious mental help.

 

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Month Four~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

 

Having secluded herself in storage so Roy wouldn’t constantly bother her about the progress of Freddy, Rose could only hope the animatronics were keeping an eye on things for her. With Fitz out there alone for most of the day, she felt more than a little nervous about another disappearance happen ing . Thankfully, whatever was wrong with Foxy seemed to have fixed itself. At least for the time being. Since their meeting in the ‘Cove’, he had returned to his old self. Yet, every now and again, it still felt like he was staring at her with his jaw agape. Shaking herself while working the needle through the brown faux fur, she forced herself to focus on her current project.

She only had the arms and one leg done, currently working on the last leg before she moved to gluing the faux fur onto the metal shell. Like Rob, Freddy would use parts from an actual animatronic to make the person wearing the suit look more like the mascots. Unlike Rob, she would use another means to hold the joints together that didn’t involve thick springs. Thankfully, she had found some spare wire that would work just fine and be a lot less dangerous. While she loved Mr. Bedian, she had to question some of his decisions. Sighing, she pulled one of the lower arm covers toward her so she could begin the honestly frustrating process.

She had to make sure to get the faux fur glued down as smoothly as possible. Any bubbles would mean she’d have to tear up to glue it down again until it was gone.  Not to mention the fact she’d have to make sure no glue got on the fur. Any matted spots would mean she’d have to make an entirely new faux fur cover. The hardest part by far would be the head, having to look like Freddy while not having any of the metal parts inside. She wasn’t even confident about being able to pull it off but at least it would help keep her from thinking about things she couldn’t possibly control.

Three figures watched her from a reality that existed between realities. The two purple colored figures twitched in unnatural ways while the one in the middle watched the female. Of all the employees in this place, she was the only one the machines seemed to recognize. Given technological limitations, they could only really recognize who was an an employee and who wasn’t by the color of clothes they wore. Anyone wearing all purple obviously worked at this place. Everyone else was either a child or a parent. After observing her for a while, it finally understood the reason why. She was… unique. Something about her sang out, unlike all the other mundane people that came here. It might be what ended up saving her in the end.

 

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Month Six~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

 

Why couldn’t the bitch hurry up with the damn costume?! Didn’t she realize he  _ needed _ it? He  _ needed _ to be one of the mascots! It was the only way the children  would get closer to him. It was the only way the voices would fucking stop! If only for a little while. Unfortunately, instead of getting better like all the other times before he had taken this godforsaken job, the voices were getting worse; more violent. It almost felt like there was something else growing inside of him. Something that was slowly taking over his soul. Something that was making his lips curl into a rictus of a grin if he didn’t pay close enough attention.  It was another reason he needed the new costume, topping an ever growing list.

Letting out a laugh that sounded more like a scream, he ran his hands through his hair.  For a few seconds, his blue eyes flashed purple; making him take a few steps back from the mirror. “No… I did not just see that. I just need another kill is all. It’ll all go away,” husked his crazed voice, echoing o f f the tile of his tiny bathroom. Laughter greeted his words, coming from the air around him while a darkness crept up behind him in the mirror’s reflection.  Spinning around, he saw nothing but still had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Like something was lurking in the darkness of his apartment.

 

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ M onth Eight~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

 

Staring at the ceiling, Roy found himself scared too get out of bed for the first time since he had been a boy. Silently cursing himself as a fool, he gripped sweat soaked sheets with piggy hands while he fought to gather the courage just to get up and go to the bathroom. He had committed many indignities in this bed but pissing it would never be one of them. He had more pride than that. Still, his body was reluctant to follow his command. A few weeks ago, he had started hearing weird shit in his house. Noises he thought would stop after he had made sure Fredbear would never move again. Tonight, gruff laughter echoed up from the foot of his bed; turning his bladder into a tight, pulsing ball.

Hissing through his teeth, he felt a cold sweat cover his body while his eyes searched the abyss of his room for anything that could have made that sound. After a few minutes of nothing, he pushed himself into a sitting position; knowing he wouldn’t be able to hold it for much longer. Whatever was out there could kill him after he took care of his problem. So, clutching his f ilthy  briefs to his cellulite covered body, he shuffled into the hall and towards his bathroom. Swinging open the door and turning on the light, he felt his bladder finally let go when he saw the slumped form of Fredbear on the lid of his closed toilet.

Taking an instinctual step back, the heavy set male slipped in the puddle of his own urine; landing on his back with a house shaking thud. Letting loose a long string of swearing, he lifted beady eyes to see the golden furred mascot was no longer there. “Just my mind playing fucking tricks on me. Been working at that damn restaurant too long,” growled his shaky voice while he carefully got to his feet. Moving into the bathroom to get some toilet paper so he could clean his mess, Roy found himself unconvinced by his own words.

 

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Month Ten~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

 

He was finally whole, finally at home. It didn’t even feel like he was looking through the eyes of a costume or even speaking in another character’s voice. These things were all him now. He  _ was _ Freddy and he was here to make children smile. If only that bitch could see that. If only she could understand this was his calling. All the kids were his friends, trusting him with deep secrets they could never tell their parents. Unfortunately, she went out of her way to make sure they stayed away from him. Did her best to keep him from doing the one thing that kept the voices at bay. The one thing that brought sunshine to these young ones’ lives.

The only time he got time alone with them, time to touch them; was when one of the kids made a mess in the ‘Cove’. While it only afforded him a few precious minutes, it was the highlight of his shift. It was only logical he would take advantage of the pattern he had noticed. After all, small amounts of rat poison couldn’t be all that bad for the kids. Just enough to get them sick and allow him time with the children in the Party Room. So, while the bitch hadn’t been looking, he sprinkled some in the popcorn; impatient for when it would start working.

Thankfully, it wasn’t long before she was getting a call of a puke emergency; causing her to run from the room. In an instant, a sea of youth was surrounding him; tiny hands touching all over his suit. Gathering a young boy into his lap, ‘Freddy’ made plans for another special game of hide and seek. A night the boy would never forget. A night he honestly couldn’t wait for. Soon, this child would feel the joy he did. The sense of being… whole.

 

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~That Night~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

 

Sounds of choking come from a dark corner of the kitchen, punctuated by heavy breathing. Then there was a thud, followed by the sound of chilling, empty laughter. A figure resembling a bear waddles out, still giggling while a white faced being appears over the slumped body. Without a sound, it scoops the boy into its arms, carrying it through the restaurant until it encountered one of the machines. Looking up at the creature that had no real name, Bonnie looked down at the body in its arms and nodded. He would be the next vessel, the next protector. So, the sound of metallic footsteps bouncing off the walls, the rabbit followed the jester into the darkness.

 

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Month Twelve~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

 

Smiling at the patrons that flooded in, Rose found it more than a little sad they were busier than they had ever been. All because it was the ‘Grand Re-Opening’, a phrase she still had trouble swallowing. None of this was an upgrade and only spoke of the end of a much simpler era. Still, she had no choice but to act like the good little employee; all while not being able to stomach being near her co-worker. It certainly didn’t help that Scott hadn’t seen anything during his shift while she was in the back with the machines.  This wasn’t assisted by the fact every now and again, the cameras would simply blink out for a few minutes due to being old. “Hey, Rose! Can I talk to ya ‘bout Foxy for a sec!” called the hated voice of her Uncle, filling her with apprehension.


	7. Year Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note: Things will get darker from here on. A lot of children die but people who play these games already know this. I’m just giving my version of popular fan-lore.

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Month One~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

 

Staring at the parts before her, Rose found herself flabbergasted by what her Uncle wanted her to do. He had wanted her to build a new Foxy but, there had been a huge catch. He had wanted her to use the original frame. That meant she would have had to disassemble her closest and dearest friend, just the thought of it made her sick. She had been so upset, she had told the mechanical vulpine about it on the same day. To say he wasn’t amused would be a massive understatement. He had come close to going to kill her Uncle, forcing her to spend many hours calming him down.

As much as she hated what was happening, it was no reason to allow more death. Besides, she had come up with a plan to get around having to tear Foxy apart. Given the fact she was the one responsible for doing inventory, it wasn’t likely Roy would notice a few things going missing from the spare parts room. With some help from the animatronics, she had squirreled away the parts she would need while the older model made himself scarce in storage. Now, she found herself measuring the head she would be using; drawing out a pattern that would go on to the faux fur.

It was a painstaking process, not to mention all the wiring and electrical work she had yet to do. If it weren’t for her friends, she would have gone crazy from the sheer monotony. Yet, the deaths of the children weighed heavily on her conscience. As much as she wanted to alert the authorities, her word was worth nothing without the evidence to back it up. There was also the fact she was in no position to quit or even protest anything Roy decided to do. She felt trapped, the project she had been given the only escape available to her. Rubbing her face, she leaned back while a sick feeling churned in the pit of her stomach. “What am I even doing? Why am I staying when things are so wrong here? Is any of this worth being associated with the horrifying occurrences?” she wondered, the sounds of creaking metal bringing her attention to the figures that circled her.

Staring into their eyes, she already knew the answer. She was here to protect them as well as do her best to try to prevent any more harm coming to the kids. If it was all she could do, she was going to do her damnedest. Picking up her tools, she got back to work with renewed vigor; determination in her blue eyes. She never noticed the fact ‘Jasper’ had joined her or the fact that the useless hulk of Fredbear had shifted just slightly. Or even the fact that both Foxy and Bonnie had started gaping at her, strange looks in their red eyes.

 

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Month Two~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

 

“Alright, try it now!” she called elbow deep inside the very machine she was talking to. With a few, rather unpleasant sounding squeals, the head began to swivel in a jerking motion.

“Damn. Still too tight,” hissed her harried voice before she was holding out an oil covered hand. With a jerky motion, Chika placed a wrench in her palm; watching the proceedings with great interest.

Quiet whirrs came from all around her, alerting her to the presence of her friends. Not minding her audience, she kept working on the servos that would turn the new Foxy’s head and control his mouth. “Okay, I think have it,” she called, voice sounding cautiously triumphant. On cue, the new Captain moved his head from side to side with much less trouble; mouth opening and closing with audible snaps. Smiling, she straightened to pop her sore spine. She had been at this for hours and had just gotten it working smoothly. Now she only had the rest of the animatronic to go. Feeling exhausted by the amount of work ahead of her, Rose decided now was the perfect time to take her lunch break.

“Sorry Foxy 2.0. I’m starving,” came a heartfelt apology while she proceeded to dig out a bologna sandwich she had made for herself that morning. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to mind; amusing himself by swiveling his head in all directions.

The original watched the antics of his replacement, seeming to have accepted his fate. In fact, he almost seemed to see the other version of himself as a son. And why not? The two would look and act exactly alike. Taking a bite of her food, she looked up at the machines over her. Especially Bonnie and Foxy. The pair had been acting strange, a strong odor coming from them and making her want to gag. While she was afraid to admit it, some part of her wondered if Jeremy had hidden the dead children in their endoskeletons. If the mascots were now haunted by vengeful spirits. Maybe, that had been what Jasper had been trying to tell her from the beginning.

Grimacing at her gruesome train of thought, she set her food aside before getting to her feet. If that was the case, then what she was doing was probably the best way she could help. Giving the bunny and fox a final glance, she got back to work; carefully threading wires and oil lines through hollow arms. Attaching them to the shoulders, she moved onto the lubricant line meant to keep the machine from overheating. Then she got to work on tightening, tweaking and pressurizing; not stopping until it was long past midnight.

 

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Month Four~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

 

Faces pressed against the ceiling. Faces of children. Faces that screamed, faces that cried. All of them seeming to loom just inches above his bed. Covered in a sheen of cold sweat, Roy struggled against his body to close his eyes. Some part of him had hoped the renovations would make all of this go away. In fact, it was making things so much worse. Groaning while his heart galloped in his chest, he squeezed his eyelids shut and covered his head like a small child. “Go away. Its not my fault you died at my restaurant,” he pleaded to the wailing apparitions above him.

Suddenly, it all went silent. Peeking out, he saw things had returned to normal. Breathing a sigh of relief, he laid on his side and tried to convince himself it had all been a bad dream. Yet, some part deep inside him knew the truth. Everything that was happening was all too real and it was only going to get worse from here. “This all started happening when I hired that Jeremy kid. Fucking christ… he can’t be the one that’s…,” he murmured, the question in his voice going unanswered by the silence of his room.

That boy… If it weren’t for the fact he was likely an illegitimate son, he would have fired him long ago. As it was, he felt a deep sense of duty toward him. Likely due to the fact he had been absent for so many years of Jeremy’s life. It wasn’t by choice either. His bitch of a mother had kept the child a secret from him, leaving it to their son to track down his daddy. Now that he had his boy, he wasn’t about to allow anything to happen to him. No matter how sick the kid was, he would protect his own.

 

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Month Six~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

 

Laughing wildly, Jeremy huddled in his closet while knocking came from all around him. It had been happening non-stop for months now. There were also the wails, the screams that were so loud he wondered how the police hadn’t been called on him yet. Couldn’t anyone hear this? Didn’t anyone know how much torture he was being put through night after night? The only time he was safe was once the sun had risen and he was at work, in his Freddy costume. The costume seemed to keep them at bay, let alone the glares of the animatronics.

Just lately, he’d had the strangest feeling the machines wanted to kill him. A notion he had pushed off as simple paranoia. After all, a person could only go through so many sleepless nights without snapping. It would only make sense he was experiencing some form of mental breakdown. Clutching his head, he rocked while the noises around him got louder; sounding like he had been transported to Hell. “Shut up,” hissed out of him over and over like a mantra, eyes squeezed shut while shadowy fingers reached for him under the closet door.

Just as they reached the leg of his jeans, his alarm was ringing; driving away the demons for another night. Yet, he had a feeling he couldn’t avoid it for much longer. What he had been doing was going to catch up to him. In fact, he was surprised it hadn’t already. He had done nothing to hide the bodies. The authorities should be on him like a duck on a june bug. Yet, here he was, getting dressed for work like he hadn’t killed three children and wouldn’t kill more. Here he was, driving to a job that allowed him to be as close to kids as he wanted; allowing him to get close enough to possibly lure them into a night time game of hide and seek.

 

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Month Eight~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

 

Settling into his chair for the night, Scott wondered what he would see. While he wasn’t concerned by Rose’s activities, the mascots were beginning to worry him greatly. Just lately, Bonnie and Foxy had developed the habit of staring into the cameras with their mouths gaping open. It was almost like they were trying to intimidate him, making him feel more than a bit unsettled. Had Jeremy done something to piss them off? If he had, they were all boned.

None of the mascots could recognize separate people, only being able to see what color you were wearing or how tall you were. It would be entirely possible for the machines to blame an individual’s misdeeds on the entire staff. The only exception seemed to be Rose. For some reason, the mechanized animals could recognize her. A fact that still puzzled him. Watching as said female made her way to the storage room, Scott found his gaze wandering to the doors on either side of him. Darkened halls that yawned at him like mouths, filling him with the urge to shut them for the first time since he had taken this shift.

For some reason, he had the idea he would be safer if he did; even if it meant possibly wracking up the power bill. Reaching for the lights, he only felt safe again when they came on to reveal nothing. “You’ve been working here for too long Scott old boy,” he admonished himself, getting to his feet to see what Rose was up to. Whatever it was, it had to be better than jumping at shadows and wondering if Bonnie or Foxy was going to pay him a very unwanted visit. Still, just peeking into the hall took a lot more courage than he cared to admit; a large part of him expected his head to be taken off as soon as it cleared the door frame. So, when he saw nothing, he felt a fair measure of relief.

Whistling as she sewed some of the new Foxy’s skin, the security officer turned seamstress jumped when she heard a knock at the door. Blinking, she motioned for the older machines to hide; waiting until they were in position to see who it was. When she saw Scott, she let out a laugh that was a sheer alleviation of tension. “I thought you were Roy or Jeremy. Come on in! Has to get lonely in that room by yourself,” she offered, standing to one side so he could enter. As soon as he crossed the threshold, she was shutting the door and the others were coming out of the shadows.

The change in their body language was apparent. Where they had been relaxed and happy before, they were now on the defensive; seeming almost aggressive. “Easy, he isn’t here to hurt any of you,” she soothed, placing herself between her and the sole human in this place she honestly liked. For a few moments, they still seemed ready to tear him apart. Then they were relaxing, moving back into the shadows while keeping a watchful eye on him. A fact that wasn’t lost on the female security guard.

“Maybe you shouldn’t come here any more after tonight,” came a hesitant suggestion he couldn’t help but agree with.

“Yeah, I can see that but… what’s happened? Did Fitz do something to piss them off? And, if he did, why aren’t they targeting you?” he whispered, almost afraid his voice alone would be enough to set them off again.

Flinching, Rose looked at him with haunted eyes before setting down the faux fur and needle she held in her hands. “I don’t know how much of it you’ll believe. Hell, I still have a hard time believing all of it myself. Yet, with the evidence in front of me, its hard not accept it,” she began haltingly before going into what she had been able to discover through the mascots. By the time she was finished, Scott looked as horrified as she felt.

“You have to be kidding… Fitz, a pedophile?” he murmured, seeming utterly stunned.

“Like I said, I didn’t want to believe it either. Feels good to finally be able to tell someone,” she responded, motioning for him to leave the room while she followed behind. With how hostile her friends were toward him, she couldn’t entirely guarantee his safety.

Leading the way to his office, Scott wished he could argue against Rose’s accusations. Unfortunately, it explained far too much for him to put them aside easily. It certainly didn’t help he had known the woman behind him for years. She just didn’t seem like the type to make up stories. Feeling disgusted as well as unsettled, he was all too glad to sit in the one chair he had available; staring at the floor below his shoes. As much as he wanted to ask her why she hadn’t gone to the authorities, he knew all too well what the reasons were. With how things were set up, there would be little to no evidence. Just her word and some odd acting animatronics. “Christ…,” whispered out of him, his eyes rising to meet hers.

“I know… believe me… Doesn’t help Roy has me sidetracked with making a new Foxy. I can’t keep a good eye on Jeremy to make sure he doesn’t hurt anymore children,” came a confession that made his heart ache for the young woman.

“None of this is your fault! You can only do so much,” Scott assured, grabbing her upper arms in a loose grip.

Watching the exchange from the hall, Foxy found himself confused. Why was his friend talking to the ‘Other’. Had she already forgotten what he had done. Then again, there often seemed to be a lot of the ‘Other’. Maybe this one was innocent of the crimes. Accepting this reason and not wanting to doubt Rose, the vulpine went back down the hall to storage. Yes, she was his friend. Therefore, whoever she was talking to was also a friend. He would have to be sure to tell the others not to harm the ‘Other’ that works at night. It would not do to upset his friend after all.

 

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Month Ten~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

 

A lonely little boy swung his legs over the multicolored carpet, jealous eyes watching the group of kids gathered around the arcade machines. He was well aware of the fact he had only been invited because of his mother. Sniffling, he bravely fought back his tear before picking up his piece of pizza. Well, he would show  _ them. _ He would have fun without them. Taking a triumphant bite of his food, he placed it back on his plate before hopping off his chair. Chewing his food quickly, he made his way over to the Freddy that was moving through the restaurant.

So far, everyone else had been too intimidated to approach the bear. If he was the first one to talk to Freddy, he might impress the others enough to get them to include him! Still, coming up to the much taller animal was a bit scary and he had to fight against his innate urge to flee.  _ ‘There’s nothing to be scared of! Its just Freddy!’ _ he admonished himself before reaching out to tug on one of the mascot’s furry legs.  When the towering ursine turned to look at him, he found himself wanting to run away more than ever. There was something strange about him, something about his eyes.

Slowly, he was bending to meet the child’s nervous eyes; a huge paw landing on one of his shoulders. “Don’t be scared little guy! I’m Freddy Fazbear, a friend to all children,” boomed a friendly, goofy voice. One that set the boy at ease instantly. Letting out a giggle, he hugged his favorite around the neck. That was when the whispering started. A secret that had his heart pounding with more fear than excitement. Did he dare accept the invitation for a night time game of hide and seek? It would mean hiding in the restaurant for a long time. Until after dark. Looking back at the group of children that was now staring at him, he found himself agreeing.

It would be something he could finally make the others feel jealous about. Maybe just staying here during the night would make them finally include him! Smiling up at Freddy while he pulled away, the boy ran back to the others; feeling more confident about his decision when he was swarmed with questions. Shrugging them off with a coolness he had often envied of the others, he walked over to one of the machines and began to insert tokens.

Behind him, Freddy watched; a mouth deep inside the costume curling into a rictus of a smile. It was so easy! The loneliest ones always wanted to play the game. Tonight, the voices would stop; if only for a few hours. Those moments of silence that were slowly becoming more sacred to him. Going back to his work, he fought off the urge to look at the mascots. For hours now, he had felt the sensation of their eyes on him. Like they were aware of what he was up to and they were going to make sure he paid for it. Shaking it off, he placed a pizza in front of a group of eager kids before heading to the kitchen for the next order.

 

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hours Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

 

Run! Run from the man in purple! A horrifying apparition that had come out of Freddy’s skin. Tears pouring down smooth cheeks, a small figure speeds down winding halls; looking for anywhere to hide. Darting into the party room, the boy does the only thing he can think of. He hides under a table and squeezes his eyes shut. Praying this will be enough to drive away the boogeyman that was hunting him. Soft calls of his name echoed in the empty room, drawing a hiccuping sob out of him against his will.

Clapping both hands over his mouth, he clamped his eyes shut even tighter while rocking back and forth. This was all a bad dream! He would wake up in his safe bed, his mom smiling down at him and making all the scary things disappear. A rustling to his left drew his frantic gaze, the tablecloth lifting like some terrible curtain. A grinning, pale face appeared before a hand was grabbing his upper arm and dragging him out. Another hand settled over his mouth to halt any screams before they were moving toward a more secluded location.

Shadows moved, a soft voice is heard for a brief moment before it is silenced. A sickening crack and it is all over. The man in purple slinks out of the loading bay, giving a wave to the poorly functioning cameras before leaving. He did not see the Jester appear from the darkness, picking up the body in spindly arms. Beside him, Chica slowly makes her way forward. Mouth gaping, she stares at the body before taking it into her own arms. She would become the next protector and soon they would have enough strength to act. To put an end to all the death.

 

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Month Twelve~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

 

William Afton was being haunted by his own nightmares, tossing in his bed while apparitions of the mascots chased him down endless halls. Mascots that had much sharper teeth than any of them had ever possessed. Shooting upright, he ran a shaky hand through his sweat dampened hair before getting out of bed. There was only one thing he could do after such horrible dreams and that was create. Heading to his shop in the basement, he paid no attention to his girlfriend’s soft calls of his name. Only one thing held his interest. The machines he was building. Machines that looked like toy versions of the animatronics that haunted him. The very machines that had killed his brother.

Staring at his unanswered letters to the current owner, he contented himself to wait. The man couldn’t ignore him forever. Especially with how many letters he was sending. Sitting at his work desk, he ignored the sounds of creaking metal. Or the murmuring voices that sometimes sounded like his brother.  Voices that spoke of terrible things happening to the children that had gone missing. Voices that sometimes seemed like they were coming from his machines. Picking up his screwdriver, he began working on the voicebox that would be for the one he affectionately called ‘Toy Freddy’. A white and pink, robotic take on the more plush-like Freddy.

He was only a few minutes in when he phone rang. “Yeah?” he breathed into the speaker while holding the phone to his ear.

“Yeah, of course! They just need some adjustments but they can be ready for a side franchise,” came an excited response, his silhouette straightening.

“No, making copies for another reboot won’t be hard. I already have a few started,” echoed his voice, the machine that looked like Foxy shifting slightly while its eyes flickered briefly.


	8. Year Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note: Last of the ‘Year’ chapters for a bit. Though, there will still be a few time skips. Things are gonna be complicated from here on.

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Month One~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

 

The atmosphere in the shop was different, almost oppressive. Licking dry lips, Rose reached for the light-switch with a fair amount of apprehension. When several pairs of red eyes flashed in the darkness, she pulled her hand back with a sharp gasp. Fighting back her innate urge to run, she stood her ground while metallic footsteps got closer. When she saw Foxy, Chica and Bonnie, she didn’t feel any safer. All three had been acting odd since the disappearances. It was only recently she’d started having suspicions that it was because they now held the souls of the children.

Gaping at her threateningly, the trio closed the distance with a strange hate in their red eyes. “Easy, I’m your friend,” she whispered, taking great care to keep her voice calm and even. Raising her hands to show they were empty, she stood in place and waited; almost too afraid to breathe. Then Foxy was shaking himself, almost seeming as scared as she was to realize just how close he had come to attacking her. As if triggered by the vulpine, the others soon followed; jerking violently before looking around like they couldn’t remember how they had gotten here.

Allowing herself to relax slightly, she allowed herself to turn on the light; gasping at what greeted her eyes. The floor, walls and ceiling of the hall had been coated in gore like it was a new paint job. To make things even worse, bits and pieces of offal were on the floor; making her gorge rise dangerously. Breathing in, she could almost taste the coppery blood and she was closing her eyes to block out the horrific scene. When she opened them again, everything was back to normal. Swaying slightly, she leaned on the nearest wall while chilling laughter filled the air.

Knowing it was Jasper, Rose frowned slightly before making her way to storage. With how long she had to spend there working on the new Foxy, she just knew he would be waiting for her. Opening the door, she wasn’t surprised to see the jester animatronic hovering near the almost finished animatronic she had been putting all her blood and sweat into. All he needed was a few touches and he would be ready to take the stage. At this moment, however, her project wasn’t her main concern. “I get you’re pissed! I get that Jeremy is killing countless children! But do you have to scare the shit out of me?! I’m as helpless to stop this as you are!” she spat, uncaring that the specter she was yelling at was exceedingly dangerous.

Silence fell, the doll staring at her with the perpetual grin painted on its white face. In the blink of an eye, it was mere inches from her face; drawing a small scream from her as she took an instinctual step back. That was when the laughter began, eerie laughter that sounded like it was coming from a child. Soon, there was more voices joining in; becoming a terrible cacophony. Covering her ears, she slid to her knees while tears dribbled down her pale cheeks. “Please, I didn’t kill any of you! I just want to help,” came a desperate plea, the sounds around her becoming deafening. Suddenly, it all stopped; leaving her on edge as she slowly lowered her hands.

Looking up with a fair amount of apprehension, she looked up into the perpetual grin above her. “What else can I do?” she croaked out, wanting an answer to her simple question. An answer that would end the torment she was being put through. The only reply was a very telling silence that caused her heart to sink.

“K-keep… u-us s-safe,” buzzed a glitched reply from Bonnie, its large hands gesturing to its fur covered, metal body.

With that one motion, all her worse suspicions were confirmed. Feeling sick to her stomach, she was covering her mouth before fleeing from the room. Sprinting toward the bathroom, she barely made in time; losing all the contents of her stomach to the porcelain god. Clearing her mouth, she spat into the toilet with a grimace; not paying attention to the sound of the door opening due to the fact she was in a public restroom. What she  _ did _ pay attention to was the fact a pair of hands had grabbed her around her ankles, dragging her bodily out of the stall through a gap in the bottom.

Still facing the closed door, she began to kick out at her assailant while screaming for help. Grunts came from behind her while they struggled to pin her down, heavy breaths gusting against the back of her neck. Jerking her right elbow backward, she felt an impact followed by a rush of swearing. Finding herself released, Rose scrambled for freedom; barely making it out the door as her pursuer’s fingertips brushed the collar of her shirt. Not stopping to catch a glimpse of who it was, she made her way back to storage; the only place she felt safe.

As soon as she was back in the room, the machines could sense something had happened. Even Jasper hovered close to her, seeming almost concerned for her. “Th-the bathroom… I think Jeremy tried to attack me,” gasped out of her despite the fact the machines couldn’t really know who she was talking about. Not if they could no longer distinguish Scott from Jeremy. Then again, maybe they never had been able to tell the difference. The only people who seemed to be individuals to the mascots were herself and her Uncle.

None of that seemed to matter however. In an instant, she was surrounded in a group hug; even the Foxy she was making getting in on the action. Feeling safer with the machines than she had earlier, she leaned into the embrace while her eyes slid shut. She never noticed Jasper fading into the background, his smiling face the last thing visible before he disappeared entirely. Nor did she notice Bonnie, Foxy and Chica giving eachother knowing glances.

 

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Month Two~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

 

Watching the ‘Freddy’ serving the kids, Roy pursed his lips while he tried to push away his irrational thoughts. At least, he sure as hell hoped they were. Watching Jeremy with the kids, he couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary going on. Yet, there  _ had _ to be  _ some _ thing happening! Four kids didn’t just simply disappear into thin air! Rubbing his scruffy face fitfully, he took a seat before leaning back in his chair and closing his piggy eyes.

Switching over the camera, he took some pride in the fact that his niece had done a fine job. The replacement Foxy fit in with the newer models flawlessly. No one would be the wiser that he was using an older, less safe version of the endoskeleton. An invention that had formerly belonged solely to a certain Gregory Bedian. At least until the old coot had died and left the rights to the patent in his hands. A patent he had given over to William Afton a few years ago in exchange for his silence about the circumstances of his brother’s maiming and eventual death.

Glaring at the phone, he knew he would soon have to make another call to check on the progress for the replacement animatronics. New, more futuristic looking mascots that would coincide with a new reboot as well as the launch of a sister location later down the line. All things that would be expensive but were necessary. Questions were beginning to be asked about the safety of his franchise and he had to find some way to quell them. Any way.

Getting to his feet to check on Rose, something caught his eye and froze him mid-step. Squinting, he leaned closer to the glowing screen. “Huh, I had forgotten about you. Don’t worry though, I’m sure my little Rosie can find some use for you,” cooed out of him when he took in the slumped body of ‘Jasper’ leaning in the hall close to the Storage room. Then he was leaving, a whole new purpose filling him as he strode down the narrow hall to the Cove. Sticking his head through the door, he wasn’t surprised to see she was at her post.

Since she had started working at the age of sixteen, she had been nothing but diligent. It was one of the reasons why he put up with her innumerable eccentricities. “Rose, when the show ends wouldja come on over to my office,” he purred, grinning at her when her blue eyes shifted to look over at him. When she gave him a wave to show she received the message, he nodded and retreated. With any luck, she would be as excited about his plans as he was.

 

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Month Four~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

 

Against her advice, her Uncle had given ‘Jasper’ a job. While she was originally supposed to get him into working order, she had deemed the task a bit superfluous given the fact he could move under his own power. Instead, she had turned her focus to making something to hide in. A fact that would be essential given the fact he was meant to be a security jack-in-the-box. Though, Roy was a bit worried he might be too scary for children.

Rose was more worried about whether or not the jester would be a problem around the parents. Still, it was too late to do anything about it now. Putting the spring in place for the lid of the giant present, she found it more than a bit ironic he would be popping out of it to scare anyone that might try to abduct a child. Or to stop a child from leaving through an exit they shouldn’t. Tightening the metal coils, she asked ‘Jasper’ to get inside to test out the mechanism.

 

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Month Six~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

 

He was being ‘promoted’ to security again, one step before being moved to the night shift. A fact he was less than happy about. He only had a week left with the costume, something he intended to use to his advantage. While the bear was smiling for him, he was falling apart inside the baggy collection of faux fur. Didn’t his father understand that he  _ needed _ to be near the kids? They were one of the few things that made the voices go away.

Once out of the costume, he would be stuffed into a purple uniform full-time. He would even be forced to wear a badge as well as a belt with pepper spray on it to look as much like a policeman as possible. This would likely make the kids scared of him and reluctant to get close. That would mean no more nightly games of hide and seek. If that happened, it would be no time at all before the shadows chasing him closed in. He needed a way to stop it! At least one more life to appease the demons! Not letting how frantic he felt show, he set the pizza down on the table. All the while, scanning the room for someone lonely. Someone that would make an easy target.

To his relief, he saw a young boy who looked a bit thin and sickly. Despite having friends, he seemed unable to join in the festivities. Making his way over, he made sure to wave to the child to get his attention. Like all the other children, he didn’t hesitate to run over to wrap his arms around some stranger in a mascot costume. Leaning down so they were on the same level, he began to whisper; taking delight in seeing the child’s eyes light up with obvious excitement. Like all the others, he was very willing to play a special game. One only the two of them would know about.

Then he was scampering back to his seat, leaving Jeremy feeling much better already. Humming the song the mascots on the stage were singing, he went to the kitchen to get more pizza. Reaching for the trays, he got a bad jolt when he saw something shadowy shifting out of the corner of his eye. A shadow that looked an awful lot like one of the demons that had been clawing at his door every night since he had killed his first victim. Shaking it off, he moved off to serve tables; keeping focused on what would be happening tonight.

 

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Hours Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

 

Only the animatronics were witness to what happened, a faint feeling of repressed rage filling the air while the man in purple stalked his prey through the covered tables. A small child that had no chance against the adult. Yet, the machines could not move themselves to do anything to stop what was happening. Soon, though, soon they would be able to do what was needed to get justice. To stop any more innocent blood from being spilled. Soon, they would be able to avenge the souls of the children they carried. Until then, they could only watch; the actions of the man in purple reflected on their dead eyes.

As he moved to the delivery bay with the child, the mascots followed while remaining unseen. Their mouths gaped open while the children inside them let out sounds of lament and sorrow. Lingering on the fringes of the shadows, they were the only ones to hear the boy’s demise. As the hated man left the room, he seemed to sense them. Pausing mid-step and looking around himself with fear filled eyes. Then he was heading off, his pace quickened as he unconsciously fled the danger behind him.

In his wake, Freddy moved into the delivery bay to take the body into his furry arms. Looking up at the mannequin that appeared before him, the new face of the Fazbear franchise gave a slow nod. He would be the last vessel that was needed, the last soul. Then they would be able to do what the humans could not. They would achieve justice for all that had died and stop the horror from going any further. If all went correctly, this child would be the last that would have to die. They just had to wait for the right time to strike. A time when the man in purple would be visible as well as vulnerable.

 

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Month Eight~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

 

Looking up at the building, Will found himself a bit surprised he was here at all. He hadn’t been to this place since his friends had maimed his brother, contributing to his eventual death. His brother had been reduced to a vegetable from the bite and the doctors had advised his parents to pull the plug. After several months of heated debate, the decision to allow his little brother to pass on was made and the nightmares had started. Nightmares that had led to his unhealthy obsession with the Fazbear Franchise. An obsession that had led him to buy the patent to the endoskeletons so he could make his own mascots.

What had started as a way to keep the encroaching darkness at bay became an obsession in and of itself. He had made and tossed many prototypes over the years, even making a few straight up copies that now dwelled in his basement. Copies that sometimes moved when he wasn’t paying attention. From those beginnings, he had starting on making improvements on the mechanics; eventually calling Roy relentlessly to make sure he knew about the upgrades. Now, here he was, waiting to show off the blueprints for his half finished mascots.

Reaching for the door, he pulled his hand back when he felt a sense of foreboding and nausea settle in the pit of his stomach. There was something sinister here, something he had felt from his own animatronics as of late. Shuddering, he forced himself to open the door and walk through over the threshold. Almost immediately, a rather overweight man with a goatee was there to greet him; piggy eyes glimmering while a swollen hand shook his. “Good to finally meet ya Afton! Let’s just go into my office to discuss what ya have there and we’ll see if we have a deal or not,” purred a sleazy sounding voice that made his skin crawl.

“You made it sound like we already…,” came the beginning of a protest before he was swept into a tiny, very stuffy office. The only method of cooling was a tiny fan by the monitor for the cameras, making Will feel terrible for the poor shmuck that had gotten stuck on security.

“ Its just formalities. Gotta get some blueprints, gotta get ya to sign a contract.  All that kind of shit,”  came an explanation the younger man didn’t quite believe.  Still, he wasn’t exactly in any position to argue.

Despite having agreed to sell him the patents to keep him quiet about the circumstances of his brother’s death, Roy  had been extremely hard to work with or even get a hold of. He didn’t think it was too insane to a be a bit on guard. Especially after the man had made it sound like there was nothing left to discuss. Bringing out the blueprints he had brought with him, he laid them out on the table while they began to discuss what he would be making as well as just how much he would be paid for all of it.

 

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ M onth Ten~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

 

Watching as the new Foxy waved to the children, Rose felt a sharp pang somewhere deep inside herself. In a matter of years, the restaurant was going to be renovated again. All the mascots would be put into storage so new, more robotic looking ones could take their place. Her only solace was the fact she could at least make sure nothing happened to her dear friends. There was also the fact that today was Fitz’s last day in costume. From this day forward, she would be in charge of training him to be night security.  With him being constantly watched, there would likely be no further disappearances. 

Looking up at the mechanical vulpine, she walked over to give her creation a sad pat on his arm. “ At least you’ll have a few years before you’re put in the dark,” she assured, giving him a smile before leaving the Cove to head to the Party Room.  Behind her, the new Foxy was staring at something that was behind him. Something that had golden fur and shouldn’t have been able to move at all. Something that flashed its eyes, as if in a silent signal.

Heading into the noisy room, she was more than a little amused to see children crowded around the massive present that had been placed near the fire exit. Instead of being frightened by ‘Jasper’ the kids seemed to be drawn to him. At the moment, the strange mascot was playing peek-a-boo with them; lifting the lid just enough so his eyes were visible. Jeremy, who was just coming from putting on his new uniform, sent a very skeptical glance toward to brightly decorated box. “I don’t like it… It could hurt the kids,” he whispered, his words making bile rise to the back of her throat.

Biting back heated words she had no proof of, she simply shrugged before leading the way to the stage. “Your job isn’t to question Roy. Your job is to do as you’re told,” she spat out, her skin crawling from the fact she had to be in the same room with him. After the incident in the bathroom, she didn’t want to be anywhere near him. Not that she had any solid proof he was the one that attacked her. She hadn’t even seen who it was. But, with everything that was happening, it made far too much sense.

Glaring at the woman in front of him, Jeremy crossed his arms in front of his chest while pursing his lips. While she droned on about how to perform maintenance on the machines, he wondered just how much she really did know. The fact she hung around the mascots made him more uneasy than the fact that all the bodies he’d left behind had disappeared into thin air.  A sudden creak drew his attention to Bonnie. He jumped back when he saw his head was practically in the mechanical rabbit’s mouth. Licking dry lips, he met the robot’s dead eyes; seeing something shift in the back of them for a split second.

Having long ago noticed Jeremy was no longer listening to her, Rose turned to see Bonnie and the trainee having a staredown. Taking some pleasure in the young man’s pale visage, she reached forward to grab his sleeve; giving a sharp yank to get his attention. When he turned to her with wide, scared eyes, she could barely contain a feeling of glee. “Better pay attention Fitzgerald. If you fuck up, you could very well electrocute yourself,” she advised, half hoping he would do so and just put himself out of both of their miseries.

 

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ M onth Twelve~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

 

Standing next to the stage for Foxy, Jeremy felt nervous without knowing why.  It seemed like all the mascots lately had been glaring at him, even gaping at him. Especially when he was trying to deal with the children. The moment he went over to calm a rowdy subject, he would feel the sensation of eyes burning into the back of his skull.  It certainly didn’t help that every time he looked away from the mascots, they were in slightly different positions. Taking a step away from the stage, he looked up while the vulpine animatronic and his human partner began the show.

The man was dressed in an over-exaggerated pirate costume with a stuffed parrot on his left shoulder and a patch over his right eye. Gesturing with his fake hook, he introduced his mechanical captain to a crowd that likely already know who he was. The more plush-like mascot bowed in response before a jaunty sound ing sea shanty began to play. While the employee in charge began to lip sync badly to the tinny tune, Jeremy kept an eye on the man-made fox. Maybe moving to the night shift wouldn’t be all bad after all.


	9. The Infamous Bite

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: We're entering into FNAF 2's Timeline now. Yes, I am going with the theory that the game is a prequel to the original.

Entering the restaurant to begin her day, she was relieved to see Scott was already there. Some part of her had almost believed her Uncle was lying about switching Fitz to the night-shift Smiling at her coworker and secret crush, she moved past him to the delivery bay. New animatronics were being put together by some man named Will Afton. While he hadn't asked for help so far, she still wanted to ensure he was treating her longtime friends with care as well as dignity. There was also the fact she wanted to make sure he wasn't going to entirely disassemble them. With them holding the souls of dead children, who knew what would occur if that happened.

Knocking on the steel door and getting no response, Rose carefully opened it enough to stick her head through. The odd man was up to his elbows in his work, the older versions of her friends standing around him in a tight circle. While they were intact, they were staring at him with an unsettling gleam in their mechanical eyes. Nibbling her lower lip, she weighed the pros and cons of intruding unannounced before deciding to go back to the Party Room. As worrying as it was, the mascots hadn't shown any drive to hurt anyone outside of an employee uniform.

Looking up at the plush copies that would soon be replaced like the ones before them, she began to sweep up for a fresh wave of kids. While sad everything was changing, she was glad the strange man building the new models seemed to have the same reverence for them as she did. Giving a pat to both Chica and Freddy, she moved off into the cove to check on Foxy. From now on, she and Scott would be switching places. This meant she would have her duties split between puke duty in the Cove or brat duty in the Party Room.

Taking a position beside the stage, she simply waited while the kids filed in through the door. Seeing their faces light up while watching a mascot she had built from scratch buoyed her spirits. Smiling at the gathered munchkins, she hoped against hope that the vomiting would be kept to a minimum today. With the mood she was in, she didn't want it spoiled by the smell of used popcorn mixed with soda. Unfortunately, some things are simply not meant to be.

Humming the song the band was playing, Scott wasn't surprised when Rose motioned for him frantically from the door. Before Fitz, his main shift had been during the day. He was more than familiar about what state the Cove would be in after a swarm of sugar filled, excitable children. Children that all too often started to rough house on a full stomach. As much as he liked Foxy, he was starting to wonder if the stage show had outlived its day in the sun. Maybe it was time to re-purpose the pirate into the band and turn the Cove into something else. With the way things were going, it would likely wind up being another arcade.

Entering the small theater, he looked at the vomit splattered carpet with an expression of horror. Taking a carpet cleaner as well as some gloves, he got to work helping her. While secretly enjoying the opportunity to be alone with Rose, he couldn't help but feel like he was being watched. A sensation that wasn't helped when Foxy seemed to move almost every time he looked up. Eyeing the supposedly lifeless machine, he found himself wondering now more than ever if the mascots were alive. Since he had start working here, he had his suspicions. What he'd seen and experienced on the night-shift had only deepened these feelings.

Once they were finished, he met gazes with his quiet companion; licking his lips before flicking his gaze toward the stage. “Some part of me didn't want to believe what I had seen. Let alone what you told me. Its getting harder and harder to ignore it. Especially after old Fredbear came to let me know you needed help. Are... are you sure they're safe?” he murmured, making sure to keep his voice low in case the mechanical vulpine was listening in.

“Around the kids, yes. Around other employees, probably not,” came a concise, exceedingly concerning answer.

“In fact, given how they reacted to you last time, I would go as far to say I'm the only one here who  _ is _ safe. How long that'll last, I have no idea,” she continued, looking toward the mascot she considered her closest friend. Almost seeing him as a son, given how many hours she had put into building him.

Scott could only stand there, a deep feeling of foreboding filling the pit of his stomach. It felt like something terrible was about to happen. Though, he couldn't really say what that would be. Shuddering slightly, he followed Rose back to the Party Room. Maybe it was time to move jobs. Yet, some part of him was reluctant to leave the woman in front of him here alone. Not only had she been attacked by one of the employees already but he didn't like to think about what would happen once he was gone.

 

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Night-shift~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

 

The job sounded simple enough. Watch the cameras to make sure the animatronics were okay and make sure not to use too much power. Yet, there was something Roy had neglected to tell him about. The fact that the mechanical mascots sometimes walked off on their own. A fact he found out while watching the cameras. One moment, Freddy and his two friends were in their spots on the stage. The next, they were in the middle of the Party Room floor; staring up at the camera with deceptively empty expressions.

While they hadn't made any aggressive moves toward the security office, Jeremy had a feeling it was only a matter of time. Still, he couldn't afford to close the doors. For some reason, the hinges were powered; causing a massive drain in the system if he kept them shut for too long. The same went for the lights as well as the cameras, leaving him with a rather awkward juggling act. If he dared to go over the allotted power given to him, the charge would come out of his paycheck. Something he couldn't afford with his rent as expensive as it was.

Licking his lips while he tried to maintain an eye on both the Cove and the Party Room without keeping the cameras constantly active, he got a bad jolt when Foxy went from on his stage to right in front of the camera in the blink of an eye. In fact, the machine was so close, he could see inside the fanged mouth straight to the endoskeleton. Yet, just past that, he could swear he saw something else. A familiar, yet twisted face that resembled a child.

Then, as fast as it had happened, the fox pirate was back to his previous position. Almost like nothing had happened at all. Feeling unsettled, he reached to turn off the monitors for a while when he saw something. For just a second, there was a shadowy figure near the delivery bay. A figure that almost looked like a dark version of the older Bonnie design. But with red eyes. Sharply reminded of the shadows that had been haunting him since the first child he'd killed here, he slammed shut both doors on simple instinct alone.

To his horror, the ethereal creature disappeared from sight seconds later. Leaving him to wonder where it had gone while he frantically flipped through the different screens. All too soon he had to open the doors, leaving him far too vulnerable to attack from either side. Looking from side to side fearfully, he found himself wishing for the sweet release of six a.m. An event that was hours away. Taking a deep breath to force himself to calm down, he looked up at the fan drawings the children over the years had given the establishment.

The earlier ones were all innocent, depicting the children playing with their favorite mascots. There was even a version of the cupcake Chika held sitting on the desk, its dead eyes seeming to bore into him. Switching on the chintzy fan next to the doll for background noise, he made himself push away any thoughts of the machines being alive. Or of them being haunted by the children he had killed. Such things were impossible. They had to be. So, his lips finally curling into a smile, he relaxed in his seat to get through the rest of his shift. After all, being alone so long was bound to make anybody start seeing things.

 

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Two Days Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

 

Over the past few days, Rose and Will had built up a strange but strong friendship. One that had started when she dared to go into the delivery bay. He had been working on the pink and white vixen that would be taking over for her Foxy. Wondering why he had decided to change the gender of the mascot, she tried to strike up a conversation about it. To her surprise, the old Fritz had been a favorite of his right before he had been replaced by the original Foxy.

Needless to say, when she admitted she had built both versions, he had been more than willing to gush over the intricacies of building the new mascots. After being alone for so long, the man seemed excited to have someone to share his interest with. Someone that seemed to share the outlandish idea that the robotic animals were alive and had a mind of their own. He didn't even blame her for what happened to his brother, having seen just how hard she had tried to get him help. Because of this, she found herself in the position of disassembling her friends so he could begin set up on the newer models.

Starting with Chica due to her being the least popular, Rose apologized profusely before looking around to make sure there was no one there to see what was about to happen. Thankfully, the restaurant was closed and Jeremy had yet to come in for his shift. If she hurried, she could get the bird animatronic to walk to the back before anyone would notice. “I need you to move to storage honey. I hate doing this when you've just settled in but I'm a mere lackey here,” she whispered, hoping against hope the plush-like model would be as understanding as the one that had come before.

To her relief, the mechanized hen gave a nod before heading off toward storage. Not a moment too soon either for, the second the mascot was gone, Will was entering from a smaller, less used door on the opposite side of the room. Behind him, a more toy-like, almost sexualized version of Chica followed in a jerky walk. “These models have actual free-roam. Phasing out the need for a costumed person entertaining the kids. Freddy will even be able to deliver pizzas to tables once I'm done with him,” the young inventor boasted, grinning widely while his creation took her position with the others. For just the briefest moment, while she was settling into place, her eyes flashed a dangerous red.

Feeling fear spike in her veins, she fought against the urge to back away from the more advanced animatronic. Something felt a lot more off about this one. Almost like it was more angry than any of the previous models had been. Unlike with the others, she wasn't so sure she would be safe once all the replacements had been made. While they would have the memories of the others, there was no guarantee the spirits inside them would tolerate her lack of action to keep the models they used safe. Sticking close to Will for the time being, she followed him back to the delivery bay.

The moment she opened the door, she could feel the oppressive, angry atmosphere inside. Stopping in her tracks and feeling like she was being watched, she turned her head to see Jasper lurking in the shadows behind her. Excusing herself politely, she walked toward the dangerously unpredictable mascot. She didn't get a few few feet before he was suddenly in front of her face, slender body jittering in a rather unnerving manner. “I... I know. But its really the best I can do! I have no power here,” gusted her small, scared voice.

Seeming to study her for an endless moment, the strange entity gave a nod before placing a spidery hand on the crown of her head. Almost immediately, her eyes rolled back in her head while the sounds of screams and angry voices swirled inside her head. She had no idea how long she had been lost when she felt someone shaking her body and calling out her name in a voice full of terror. Groaning while the maddening noise faded, she opened her eyes to see Will as well as both Foxies hovering over her. Taking their offered hands, she tottered to her feet while holding a hand up to her forehead. “R-rrrr- r-r-rose bzrt sssshhhh... o-o-okaaaaay?” snarled out a mass of audio glitches from the original Foxy while the one she had built looked her over for signs of injury.

Looking at both mascots with a vaguely mystified expression, the inventor to her right helped her limp to the delivery bay. Once there, he had her sit on a sturdy box before fetching her one of his bottles of water. Taking the cool cylinder gratefully, she took a few swallows while the mechanical vulpines settled themselves on either side of her. “They know who you are,” whispered an incredulous voice from in front of her. Lifting her head, she let out a sigh before nodding.

“I have no idea how or why but they do. Maybe its because I was a friend of theirs long before they were replaced or the murders started happening. I always treated them like they were alive, even before I knew for sure they were,” she whispered, not really expecting him to believe everything she was telling him.

To her shock, he was nodding while taking a seat in front of her. “All the mysterious child deaths that have happened here. I had a feeling something else was going on than mere coincidence,” he murmured, his eyes gaining a slightly manic edge while his hands clasped tightly between his legs. A bit taken aback, Rose leaned back into the comfort of the machines currently book-ending her. Letting out identical snarls, the mascots wrapped protective arms around her while narrowing their eyes at the strange male.

Holding up his hands to show he meant no harm, he immediately leaned backward while an apprehensive expression crossed his face. “Since my brother died, I became a bit obsessed with this place. I couldn't find peace unless I was building copies of the machines that now haunted my dreams. This place... the tragedies here have given it a dark power. Like a magnet it seems to only attract more death. Like it craves the souls,” he whispered, paranoid eyes glancing around the room nervously. Furrowing her brow while she absorbed his words, she found some, small part of her agreed. Since the first tragedy with this man's sibling, things had been on a disturbing downward spiral.

“Maybe... maybe the first spirit has caused everything that followed. Maybe, it couldn't take revenge until more souls had been gathered,” she added, twisting her hands nervously while a whiff of something rotten came from both the animatronics beside her.

 

_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Two Days Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _

 

Despite their reservations, everyone involved was merely a lowly employee. They were at the mercy of Roy, neither of them able to say no to what he wanted to happen. Will especially. Given the fact he had signed a contract to replace the mascots, he was backed into tighter corner than her. Thankfully, replacing the others on the stage had taken no time whatsoever. The only hold out seemed to be the vixen that would take Foxy's place. No matter what the builder tried, the vixen fell into a tangle of limbs the moment his back was turned. Despite that, however, it would only be a matter of time before the pirate was removed anyway.

Not only had he lagged in popularity but his older mechanics could label him as an added hazard. Something the restaurant didn't need given how prone to 'accidents' the place was. More than likely, even without the vixen dubbed simply as 'Mangle', Foxy's cove would be shut down after tomorrow. After that, the tangled animatronic that would have been his replacement would become a 'build-it-yourself' attraction. Moving into the Cove to spent what time she could with her dear friend and creation, she gave a nod to Scott.

While worried about Rose, the purple clad male took a position against the wall to keep watch over the children. That was when Will Afton came into the room, a shy girl close on his heels. Feeling a bit confused, he smiled at the young man as the pair approached him. “Would you mind watching over her today? Wife had a family emergency and I had to bring her in with me,” came an entirely unexpected request.

“Uh, sure. I doubt any of the kids will mind an extra,” he agreed before squatting down to the girl's level and smiling at her.

Orange-red hair crowned her head, freckles dotting the swell of her cheeks and a timid expression in her green eyes. “What's your name darling?” he cooed in his his most gentle voice possible. Giving him a gap toothed smile, the pig-tailed girl began twisting the hem of her skirt nervously.

“Lizzbeth...,” came a quiet response.

“Well, Elizabeth, just you come to me if you need anything or even if the kids are mean to you,” he offered before straightening to nod toward her father.

Taking that as a signal, the young girl wandered over to the crowd gathered around the giant present; an unsure expression on her young face. Turning to look at the newcomer, one of the youngsters motioned her to get closer. To her shock, something inside lifted the lid briefly to peek at her. Jumping back out of instinct, she blushed when the others gathered around her began to laugh. “That's just Jasper. He likes to play with us and keeps the guards busy,” a boy that appeared to be the leader explained. Then he was slinging an arm around her shoulder, eyes sparkling with mischief while he grinned down at the younger girl.

Thinking the kids were taking her under their wing, Scott decided just to keep a peripheral eye on things. Besides, Jasper was unlikely to allow anything _too_ bad to occur. So, when Rose came to ask for his help after Will had left, he saw no reason why he couldn't walk away for a few minutes. Giving one last glance to his temporary ward, he left the Party Room to help clean the Cove. The moment he was gone, the children formed a ring around the stranger. Looking up at the others with vague confusion, Elizabeth leaned into the older boy next to her for comfort. “Wanna play a game Lizzie?” he whispered, a wide grin on his face.

Running outside while the other children counted, the young girl hid behind some trashcans while giggling to herself. It didn't take too long before she started to get cold, a biting breeze gusting against her tiny body. When the rain started, she began to wonder just where they were. Getting up and dusting off her skirt, she walked toward the square of light coming from the window. Peering in, she saw the kids that were supposed to be looking for her playing like she didn't exist. Reaching for the door, she felt the first tingles of fear when she found it was locked.

Rubbing her icy arms, she looked from side to side; unsure of where to go or what to do. She was just about to start crying when she heard the sound of a car engine. Turning her head with a hopeful expression, she immediately felt safe when she saw a man dressed in purple approaching her. “Hey hun, what are you doing out her all alone in the rain?” husked a gentle voice while kind eyes looked down at her.

“I was playin' hide an' seek an' I got locked out,” she whispered, reaching for him with a tiny hand.

Taking the offered appendage, the much taller man led her further back into the alley. Given her trust for people in authority, the child never suspected anything was wrong. Not even when he pushed her against a brick wall and knelt so he could more easily look her in the eyes. It was only when a large hand covered her mouth that she began to feel just the smallest bit of alarm. Shushing her softly, the purple clad man wearing a security badge started to fumble with her clothing. Above them, the rain intensified; the only sound muffled sobs followed by a sickening crack a few minutes later.

 

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A Few Moments Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

 

A spindly figure creeps into the brick corridor, rain plinking off its metal shell. Heading toward an unknown destination, its movements became more rigid the longer it was exposed to the moisture. Eventually ending up on the concrete, it crawled over to a tiny, prone form while several voices called a name from a distance. Curling around the ice cold body of the girl, 'Jasper' gave a few shudders before rust began to freeze over his mechanical joints. A few moments later, the pair was found and an anguished scream issued into the air. It wasn't too long after that, the sound of sirens filled the air; followed by flashing, blue and red lights.

 

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The Next Day~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

 

All day long, the cops had been in and out; to her Uncle's frustration. On top of that, Will had completely buried himself in his work, refusing to talk to even her due to the guilt he felt. Not matter what anyone said, he would always blame himself for not doing more to protect his daughter. Then there was Scott. After the girl had been found, the man had been utterly inconsolable. He was more like a zombie, going through the motions of the job. Unfortunately, she couldn't afford to worry about either of them.

Despite what had happened, her uncle had decided to open anyway today. Any time now, the tidal wave of kids would be coming. She would have to be ready to do the work of two people. Moving to go to the Party Room, she passed a too silent Scott on his way to the cove. Looking at him over her shoulder, she got the strangest feeling something terrible was about to happen. Feeling an urge to insist he just go home, she continued on to her appointed position. Just a few minutes later, she would come to deeply regret not listening to her instincts.

Walking into the Cove, Scott took his position by the stage while the first wave of children filled the makeshift theater. Despite the aching void in his chest, the sight of the joy filled face brought a smile to his lips. Not paying attention as the curtain pulled back, he didn't notice Foxy moving toward him in a rather spastic manner. Last thing he heard was an unholy screech before his entire world became nothing but searing pain and the screams of terrified kids.

 


	10. Ch-ch-changes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note: And here we enter into a bit of Sister Location’s timeline. I’m convinced S.L. and FNAF 2 happened around the same time and that 2 happened before 1.

The incident had happened a few months ago and she still remembered it like it happened yesterday. She could remember the sight of Scott laying in a pool of his own blood, some of his brain matter leaking free of his cracked skull. The screams of the kids filled the air along with the scent of vaguely pizza perfumed vomit. Most of them had run from the room looking for the comfort of their parents. The rest simply stared at the felled guard, their eyes wide and glassy. Too shocked to even respond properly to the children, Rose had immediately knelt beside the grievously injured male. If it hadn’t been for Roy coming in due to the commotion, the former security detail would have likely died.

In fact, it had been her loathsome Uncle who had sprinted to call 9-1-1 while she had stayed with Scott. She had been so focused on him that, when the paramedics came for him, she had followed them like a lost puppy. In fact, she had done nothing but sit by his bedside. Something her Uncle had been oddly okay with. Probably having a lot to do with his plans for the franchise as well as the restaurant. With her distracted, he would be able to move forward how he pleased. Not even when the man in the hospital bed opened his eyes did she move. She only left when he insisted she go and make sure the Foxy that attacked him wouldn’t be scrapped.

Surprised and more than a little touched by the affection he still had for the vulpine despite the attack, she had rushed to the pizzeria. To her immense relief, the machine had just been moved to storage with the others. Likely to be used as spare parts for the newer mascots. Like Scott, she still loved the mechanical fox she had made. She couldn’t even bring herself to really blame him entirely for the attack. To her friends, all the employees looked the same. Just a purple suit wandering around in a mass of children.

From that point forward, she had been there for each step of Scott’s recovery. He would be bound to a wheelchair for the rest of his life but he had retained a shocking amount of function. It was a miracle he could talk and eat by himself given the injuries he had sustained. Yet, he insisted on still working for the Fazbear franchise. A request Roy had been very willing to accommodate. Therefore, he was now in charge of talking to newbies over the phone. Especially the night security. While disappointed he would have such a small role, Scott was more than happy to accept what he could get. “I don’t know why but I feel driven to stay with the company,” he had confessed to her the day after he had been released from the hospital.

Though, Scott’s return to health hadn’t been the only thing to celebrate. Jeremy Fitzgerald was being moved to the sister location. A place that was going to be called ‘Circus Baby’s Pizza World’. Given the fact they were going to be short staffed when they first opened, Roy saw it as a perfect opportunity to get the new guy some experience. Personally, she thought her Uncle had also noticed the odd coincidence of children having disappeared since he had come on. Moving him would be a fantastic way to divert attention from the main restaurant. Still, she couldn’t help but be happy about this.

With how dangerous the man was, she would feel safer the more distance was between them. Though, some part of her couldn’t help but feel horrible about what would happen to any children while he was there. If any more deaths happened, it was likely neither location would survive. It was only when she had come back in to work, that she saw the extent of Roy’s cruelty. Despite the fact a mascot had killed his daughter, her Uncle had forced Will to keep working for the company. The monster hadn’t even allowed the builder to take time off to heal, as evidenced by the all too dead look in his eyes.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t really afford to take too much time to offer him comfort. The most she could do was offer him a shoulder to cry on if she wasn’t too busy. Thankfully, after the accident in the Cove, the place wasn’t as busy lately. Though, with all the work there was to get all the new mascots up and the sister location working, it was a good thing. With the upcoming name change that would help tie in to Circus Baby, it was likely people would forget all about what had happened anyway. The only people that knew the truth would be her, Scott and a bunch of animatronics. Animatronics most people considered to be inanimate.

As she settled into place in the Party Room, she couldn’t help but look over toward the stage. All her friends had been replaced with their white and pink counterparts so they would match better with the sister location’s. Though, she had to admit she hadn’t seen any of the mascots for the secondary franchise. With the exception of one. Will had shown her plans for ‘Circus Baby’. The animatronic that was going to be the lead for the new pizzeria. It still chilled her just how much the thing resembled his dead daughter, Elizabeth. It was fairly obvious to her that the man was having problems dealing with the death of his daughter in a healthy manner.

As for Will, he was stuck in his own personal nightmare. Since his daughter had been found in the arms of a rusting animatronic, he had been having waking nightmares. He had been seeing visions of his lost child as well as the marionette she had been found with. Visions of black leaking from her eyes while a creepy smile curls her lips, an unnaturally thin, white hand coming to close over her left shoulder. Then, she had started talking. At first, it had been like her voice was coming from underwater. Over the weeks, however, it had become much more clear. She started begging him for a body of her own while her strange partner watched with a permanent grin on his mask-like face.

Maybe that was why he had built Circus Baby. A large part of him had wanted to make her a better vessel than the marionette. Something that matched how she looked a bit better. Her whispering in his ear hadn’t helped this. In fact, it had driven him to not sleep until the thing was finished and functioning properly. She was also the only one for the secondary location that he had finished so far. Though, the other unique mascot wasn’t that far away. The only thing that had kept him remotely sane had been the companionship Rose had offered to him. Though, she seemed just as drawn into the darkness surrounding the restaurant as he was.

No place was safe anymore. He was starting to see things besides the nightmares of his daughter. Things that liked to peek at him around corners. Things that looked a lot like the original mascots. Things that had sharp, needle-like teeth and smelled like rotting roadkill. Things that seemed to radiate malice and hate. Even when he went to the restaurant to work on the machines, he could see them. Especially Foxy. A fact he thought had a lot to do with the vulpine’s planned replacement. Not only had the gender been changed but the thing refused to stay in one piece. No matter what he did, the moment he turned his back ‘Vicky’ would fall into a heap of disjointed limbs.

It was beyond any explanation. None of the other mascots had the same problem. In fact, he had just given up and started calling the damn thing ‘Mangle’ instead. It would become the first ‘build your own animatronic’ attraction but this didn’t help him feel better. It was almost like Foxy itself was preventing the machine from functioning. An insane notion if you were anyone else but him, Rose or Scott it seemed. All three of them appeared to be caught in the same trap, circling down into the darkness. It was only the woman who seemed to actively accept it. In fact, she almost seemed to be happy about it.

Shaking his head at his own thoughts, he peered down the hall that lead to the party room. When he saw the silhouettes of both Freddy and Chica craning around opposite corners of the long corridor, he wasn’t all that shocked. Yet, something felt different than all the other times he had seen the shadowy figures. The atmosphere felt thicker, vaguely electric and crackling on his skin. It almost felt like they were looking at his very soul. And they were judging him as guilty. Of what, he had no idea. Shuddering vaguely, he almost jogged to the Party Room; not feeling any safer once he was inside.

Rose was sitting on the stage, the other mascots gathered around her almost protectively. As soon as they heard the door open, they lifted their heads to fix him with a chilling stare. Gaping their mouths at him slightly, they stayed where they were while their human companion shot to her feet. “Will! What are you doing here?! It isn’t safe! Especially with Jeremy leaving soon,” she gasped out, rushing toward him to push him back out of the room. Once they were back in the hall, he couldn’t help but look over her shoulder. Freddy and Chica had been joined by one of the Foxies, filling him with a sickening sensation of dread.

“Look, you need to get out of here. Sooner rather than later. My friends… they’re starting to get more restless. More angry,” she hissed, acting like she was afraid of being heard.

Keeping his eyes on the three behind her, he stepped forward to place both hands on her shoulders. “Come with me! Its not too late for you! You can still escape from whatever is taking place,” he insisted, fixing his frantic eyes on her. He felt his blood turn to ice when she gave him a hollow smile.

Shaking her head, she stepped backward toward the shadows with glowing red eyes. “None of us are escaping this untouched. If you haven’t started seeing things by now, you soon will be,” she whispered, stopping once she was standing among the dangerous machines.

“Besides, I don’t want to leave my dearest friends at the mercy of my Uncle. Someone has to make sure they’re safe so they children they protect can exact their revenge. They have been there for me more than any person alive. They deserve the same loyalty from me. Run while you can, however. You’ll find out soon enough just how entangled in this thing you really are,” she whispered, her smile growing more sinister while her shadow seemed to take on a life of its own. In fact, it was starting to look like the jester marionette that had been found with his daughter.

Taking an instinctual step back, he turned and made his way to the door. Once outside, he kept running until his was in his car. Cranking the engine to life, he peeled out of the parking lot and down the road. As he sped toward his home, he did his best to ignore the disturbing figure in his backseat. A figure that brought the smell of death with it. A figure that had his little girl’s laugh as well as a disturbing version of her formally sweet face. A figure that was slowly leaning forward, its voice a loathsome whisper in his ear. A figure that was placing its sticky hands on his shoulders while the rotting smell intensified enough to make him gag.

Turning to look at ‘Jasper’, Rose couldn’t help but smile. When he had been found in the alley, she had feared she would never get him working again. It seemed, however, that some other force had taken things into its own hands. From the moment she started the repair, things had progressed supernaturally fast. Not only that but all the work she had put in had seemed to bring the two of them a bit closer. “Glad you’re feeling better Jas. If you guys are still going to do this, tonight is Jeremy’s last night here,” she whispered before her gaze was moving back to the Party Room.

Unaware of any of what was happening, Jeremy snuck through hidden halls until he had made his way to the changing room. On the inside was the summer intern, unenthusiastically putting on a suit.  _ His _ suit. Forcing himself to remain friendly, he approached the acne covered teen. This would be his last opportunity to put on the bear, to be near what he considered to be  _ his _ kids. He couldn’t throw it away by having the brat in front of him raise the alarm. Thankfully the sixteen year old was more than happy to take the $50 and fuck off for the day. Placing the head over his own, he finally felt a peace settle over him. Almost like this bear suit had become his second skin in a way. In fact, it was the only time he felt safe or at home anymore.

Heading out into the Party Room, he waved to a flood of children before heading to the delivery window for the pizzas. Passing out the cheesy pies to hungry mouths, he zeroed in on a young boy that was obviously apart from all the others. On top of looking much richer, he also appeared to be with his nanny. A fact he seemed less than happy about. Sensing opportunity, he approached the pair. All his time wearing the suit had taught him one very important thing. Adults seemed much more willing to trust their children to a mascot. A strange, dangerous habit but one he certainly wasn’t going to complain about.

Placing the pepperoni pizza on the table they were seated at, he knelt so he could look the small boy in the eyes. “Now why aren’t you playing with the others?” he asked in the jolly, slightly dopey sounding voice of Freddy. Immediately, the child pouted, straightening a tie that was far too fancy for an event like this.

“I want to but… nana says its too dangerous,” he murmured petulantly, blue eyes rimmed with tears as he looked up into the face of one of the heroes from his youth.

“I’m sorry Thomas. You know your father would fire me if those children so much as made fun of you,” the elderly female explained, a sad, sympathetic expression in her wizened eyes.

Looking up from the small boy, Jeremy made sure to look her in the eyes with those of the costume he was wearing. “If you want, I could look out for the little tyke ma’am,” he suggested, smirking to himself when she appeared to consider his offer.

“Pleeeease? I just want to play with the other children. To be normal for once. ‘Sides, Freddy won’t let anything happen! He’s a good bear,” the kid begged, using his baby blue to his advantage. The little manipulator even threw in a few sniffles for good measure.

Likely being a grandma, the older woman crumbled all too easily. Giving the man in the mascot costume an assessing glance, she gave a reluctant nod. “I won’t let ya down ma’am!” ‘Freddy’ chirped before leading the suit clad kid away. The moment they were out of earshot, the brown bear began to whisper to the boy. What he was suggesting made the child’s eyes sparkle for a different reason. Nodding enthusiastically, he handed the bear his jacket and tie before running off to join the others. He didn’t hear the chilling laugh come out of the grinning bear’s open mouth.

Lonely children were always easy. Still, the nanny would be a problem. He’d have to play things carefully or the old biddy would become a problem. Above all else, he couldn’t be the last one seen with the boy while he was alive. If he played his cards right, one of the children would be blamed for the tragedy. Already, a mean looking boy had zeroed in on him; luring the lonely rich child into a false sense of security. Smirking to himself, he kept a close eye on his quarry; watching as the bully skillfully manipulated the naive victim. In fact, the little sociopath had no trouble getting the wealthy boy to do whatever he wanted.

Thomas wasn’t entirely naive. He knew the other boy shadowing him didn’t like him and saw him as another easy score. Thing was, he couldn’t bring himself to care. He had spent so much time placed above and apart from others that he would take whatever he could get. No matter what the kids here did to him, he wouldn’t complain. Most of all, he wouldn’t tell his nana. She would never allow him to play like a normal boy again. In fact, if it was up to her and his father; he wouldn’t make friends at all. Especially with the fact he was being home-schooled and lived on a fairly isolated property. Being the son of a politician was not an easy life and he would give  _ anything _ just to be like the rest of the kids here.

He wasn’t allowed to do anything that might injure him. If he got so much as a scrape on his knee, whoever was watching him at the time would catch Hell. Worst of all, he hardly ever saw his parents. His care had been left to an endless stream of nannies and butlers. On the rare occasion he was awake to see them come home, they acted like he wasn’t there; shoving him off on the closest servant. In all honesty, he just couldn’t understand why other children envied his life. It was a miracle he had even been invited to this party, let alone allowed to attend. Running to get the boy giving him orders another ball, he admitted to himself that he was having fun even if he wasn’t actually playing any of the games.

For Rose, it all seemed to be going great. None of the kids had thrown up for once and ‘Mangle’ had become a massive hit with the children on her first day. Still, there was something about the pile of steel and parts that made her very uncomfortable. Almost like it was more malicious than the others. All in all, she wasn’t really comfortable being in the room alone with it. It was only the fact that Jasper’s box had also been moved in here that kept her from bolting back to the Party Room once the children had left. Sweeping while whistling to herself, she froze when she heard the distraught wail of an older woman. Running to the door and heading straight to the Party Room, she saw a woman that was obviously a nanny shaking a young boy with rage and sorrow covering her wizened face. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done!” the matron screamed, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Feeling a sense of dread bloom in the pit of her stomach, Rose immediately began to scan the room for the source of the woman’s distress. There, by an ugly animatronic holding balloons, was a crumpled, tiny body dressed in a nice tux. Becoming vaguely nauseous, she headed toward the woman that was currently shaking the shit out of another child. With a huge amount of effort, she managed to separate the pair just before the sobbing boy’s mother came rushing up to see what the problem was. Trying ineffectively to hush the sobbing geriatric, Rose winced when she hurled an accusation. “Your little psycho just killed the son of Ted Wilson,” she screeched, bringing all the merriment to a grinding halt.

The stunned mother immediately knelt in front of her son while Rose did her best to get the older woman away from the crowd. While the security woman calmed the sobbing nanny, she got her son’s side of the story. After the police had been called, the mother approached the purple clad woman caring for the shaking nanny. Calmly, the three of them discussed what had happened. One thing that was established was the last time Thomas was seen alive, he had been talking to the woman’s son. The only problem was, little Johnathan swore up and down the kid had wandered off several minutes ago. Ushering the children out of the room just before the police arrived, Rose silently wondered just what had happened.

After the cops had arrived, they’d roped off the scene before examining everything as well as taking fingerprints of all the children that had been present. It wasn’t lost on Rose that a certain mascot had been missing for both the tragedy and the investigation. Heading back to the room used for changing in and out of the costume,  she felt a bit sick when she only saw the empty costume on the bench. There was no sign of the teenager that was supposed to be donning Freddy. In fact, there was no indication it had been worn in the first place.  Looking up from the mass of brown, faux fur, she saw a shadow skitter away from the door across from her.

Heart plummeting into the pit of her stomach, she moved to chase the person when she felt a hand close over her left shoulder. Swiveling her head, she was unsurprised to see her uncle glowering down at her. “Where’s the kid that wore the suit today,” he growled out, a strange amount of panic in his piggy eyes.

“No clue Roy,” came a response while her eyes narrowed of their own accord.

Shoving away from her, the obese man waddled over to the door across from her. “If ya value this job, just stay th’fuck there,” growled a firm command before he was disappearing down one of the hidden halls meant for staff. Blinking and just feeling outright confused, Rose did as she was told. She was unaware of a certain Jester animatronic taking form behind her, eyes flashing before he disappeared into the shadows. Flowing from beneath her feet like ink, the living darkness, moved from shadow to shadow until it was in the same hall Roy had just entered.

“Th’hell ya think yer doin’ here! Were you th’one wearing th’fucking bear today?” snarls a vicious voice, a fat shadow violently shaking a much slimmer silhouette.

Insane laughter soon echoes off the dark walls, red eye flashing briefly in the gloom. Releasing the obviously mad man, Roy grimaced while taking a few steps backward. “We’re both damned you and I. In fact, all the people working here are damned,” screamed a hysterical voice, an unnatural grin cracking a pair of bleeding lips while eyes bulged from their sockets.

“You’ve gone insane,” the owner managed in a stunned voice, unable to cope with what he was seeing.

Cackling, Jeremy shook his head before running up to the other man and placing a hand on both his shoulders. “You’re seeing them too. I can tell from the look in your eyes. Still, none of this matters! You’re sending me to the sister location tomorrow and its far too late to back out of that deal now,” he pointed out before patting his illegitimate father’s chubby cheeks.

“I appreciate the job opportunity though father. A whole new crowd of children! None of them probably ever hearing about what had happened at the other restaurant,” he continued before pressing a wet kiss to Roy’s head.

With another wild he-haw of laughter that sounded more like a scream, Fitz shoved away from the overweight man to make his way to the exit. This time, Roy made no move to stop him. Guilt shining in his dark eyes, he ran a shaky hand down his sweaty face. Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t inform the authorities about any of this. Not only would it mean the death of his restaurant but his own name would get dragged through the mud along with his son’s. “God forgive me,” he whispered before turning on his heel and making his way back to Rose.


	11. (Author's Note)

I have to take an extended hiatus.  Some horrible things happened and I just don't think I will have the will to be creative for a good, long while.  If ever again.  I also have to take some time to take care of myself due to what happened. Please don't ask, its a terribly personal problem and I have to deal with it as best I can.


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